Crystal Lights
by Missy-Dedodakes
Summary: Cyclonis has hold of one of the most powerful crystals in Atmos, the Cabion. But this time, the Storm Hawks can't do anything, and its up to a small band of OCs to stop her... please read! Or else! or else what?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Welcome to the story. :D Please read and review. This is an OC story, but trust me, its good. If you want to submit an OC, please do it through review

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Shadow skipped across the halls in the Condor merrily. Everything was quiet except for her, the halls dark. It was three AM in the morning.

"Ladaladaladala-"

Aerrow grumbled. Half asleep, he now regretted letting Finn give her coffee the night previous.

"Lalalalalala-"

She'd been like this for hours. When would she fall asleep? Aerrow thought, covering his head with a pillow.

"Lalalala- Ahh!"

There was a high pitched shriek. Aerrow burst out of his room, needing to see what happened. Two talons stood in the halls. Shadow was unconscious.

"Hey!"

Piper, her room next to Aerrows, burst out with a red crystal. Her eyes fell to the talons. She made a move and suddenly was hit by an unidentifiable object, then crumpled to the ground.

"_Piper_!"

But Aerrow felt something hit him too, and the world fell into darkness….

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It was early morning on Terra Gale. The sun peaked just above the horizon, rising slowly, illuminating the grass and rocks.

Marknos Ragno, about 15, stood, doing absolutely nothing. Why was he even here again? Oh, right.

Actually, he had no particular reason to be on Terra Gale at the moment. Except that he didn't really have anywhere else to go, and he had a friend here, Dove.

"Up early?" she asked, walking up to him.

"Yeah, I think they were having a party or something… kept me up." Marknos said.

"I think we have a problem," Dove said, pulling out a newspaper. "They say Cyclonis has a new weapon. The Cabion."

"The what?" Marknos asked.

"The Cabion, it's a crystal," Dove said. "It has the power over the biosphere. It can control plants. When reversed, it can destroy all plant life. As in, no food. No agriculture."

Marknos pieced it together in his mind. "And if we go, who protects Terra Gale?" He honestly didn't care much for the Terra, but he knew Dove did, and if they both left and Gale was invaded again she would be upset. To say the least.

"I was thinking you go. I dunno, check it out." Dove said.

"As in, see Cyclonis again? Sweet!" Marknos cheered.

Marknos had… questionable relations with Cyclonis. But Dove knew he was a great fighter, and she trusted him.

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Tiger Lily, often nicknamed "Tigger", walked with Aladd, Kurk, and Lee Barrs in the streets of Terra Atmosia. The Rock Hearts had just run into Lee and they were reading a newspaper.

"Series of Sky Knights kidnapped?" Tigger read aloud.

"…Terras may plummet into turmoil without their protectors," Lee continued.

Aladd was about to cheer (seeing as he hated the Storm Hawks, especially Finn) but Tigger felt a lump in her throat. One of her best friends, Shadow, was one of the Storm Hawks.

"The Storm Hawks aren't official. Would they count?"

"I think so," Lee said. "The Condor was parked up there, yesterday, see?" Lee asked, pointing to the sky.

The Condor was still there, but one window was broken and everything was dark. Signs of a struggle.

"We have to go find them!"

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The rain poured outside. Inside Jim Harvels (one of the only doctors in Pathologica) house, Rondana and Tyrannis stood.

"This is what you meant by inclement weather?" Tyrannis asked.

"Not exactly. More like, this is supposed to be the dry season and it's pouring out more then it is in the entire rainy season here," Rondana said. She had managed to convince Tyrannis to come to Pathologica.

"It looks a bit like crystal-induced," Tyrannis noted.

"That's what I thought. You know about crystals, what do you think?" Rondana asked.

"Well…" Tyrannis trailed off. "Do you know what a Cabion is?"

"Alittle…" Rondana said. "The plant crystal. What about it?"

"There are reports saying Cyclonis has gotten ahold of it. If you reverse the effects, it can kill all plant life. Sometimes with storms. This storm doesn't look natural," he said.

"Can it destroy on such a large scale?" Rondana asked. "Do you mean full Terras?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe full Atmos. Theres only one way to find out."

"We have to go to Cyclonia, don't we?"

"Yep," Tyrannis answered.

"Crap,"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

All OCs property of their respective authors. I'm so sorry if some of the OCs don't have as much spotlight in this chapter, this one was difficult to write. OCs taking action. Everything should fall into place by Chapter 3, sorry if this one isn't that great… please review… all the usual…

By the way, Star Wars Nut, I'll try and get Marina into Chapter 3... sorry for the wait...

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"No!" Shadow screamed. A talon was pressed against the bars of hers and Pipers cell, the rest of the Storm Hawks in the cell opposite. She tore out talon hair furiously, blonde, brunette, collecting at her feet.

"Shadow, calm down-"

"No!"

The talon squirmed out of her grasp and disappeared down the dungeon hallway in a flash. Shadow fell to the floor.

"Still sugar high," Aerrow muttered ."The angry version. Finn, why didn't you give her decaf?"

"What's decaf?" Shadow looked up, curiously. "Whew…"

She leaned over and fell on the floor, asleep.

"The infamous crash," Stork said.

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Marknos flew overhead the red sky Terra. Cyclonia.

A group of people with skimmers were on the ground level, talking. They didn't look Cyclonian at all.

"It broke _again…_"

"You need a new engine…"

A girl with orange hair and blonde highlights with purple glasses was talking to a person he recognized as Rondana. He instantly recognized the others, too, Tigger, the girl with purple glasses; Tyrannis, the skunk hybrid; Lee, the short man with green hair; Kurk, the balding guy; and Aladd, the fourteen year old boy.

"Hey, Marknos!" They said, almost in unison, which was kind of creepy.

"Uh, hey…. What're you all doing here?" he asked.

"You heard about the Cabion, too?" Tyrannis asked.

"The plant crystal?"

"That's the one," Tigger said, holding a newspaper. "And the Storm Hawks were kidnapped."

"A ton of them were. So Cyclonis can use her new crystal to kill us all," Lee added.

"Well… that sucks."

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Feebie, fourteen, was in shock.

She had long, red-brown hair in a ponytail, eyes dark blue, and a uniform very similar to Aerrows only in a feminine orange style.

This was because she was the Sky Knight of the Phoenixes, and Aerrows unidentical twin sister at that. And lucky. So the reason someone (probably talons) had been shooting at her airship the night before was because they had wanted to kidnap them, like the rest of the Sky Knights. But that night was foggy, and they had managed to dodge out of the way. Which was why they were here, not rotting in some Cyclonian dungeon.

But suddenly, Feebie felt a wave of panic. What if the Phoenixes were the only Sky Knight squadron left?

Leola, a Radarr-like creature but with pink-purple fur, and Blaze, a phoenix, were some of her best friends.

"What do you think, Leola?" Feebie asked.

"Raar," Leola pantomimed driving and landing on Cyclonia.

"Go to Cyclonia?"

"Raar,"

This was going to be a long day…

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A dog-sized, orange brown dragon flew through the sky. With her was another, blue dragon, with sapphire eyes and a spiny grey crest.

"So you're an _actual _dragon," the smaller one said to the other, Weaverbird. They had just met randomly flying in the sky.

Weaverbird smiled. "Yep, but if you're not an actual dragon, then what…?"

"My druid stone," Zarina, or Rina, said. "So you really think we should go to Cyclonia?"

"Dragons are powerful. And if the Sky Knights can't do anything, and Cyclonis is up to something, we have to change that," Weaverbird said.

"Into the heart of Cyclonia, oh joy," Zarina said sarcastically.

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Ruby, with curly red-brown hair in a red ribbon and a brown-red outfit, looked at the newspaper. Her hazel eyes scanned the page and she twisted her solaris bracelet uncomfortably. Sky Knights kidnapped?

Her stepsister, Violet, with black hair in two braids and pale blue eyes, stood next to her. Her lunar crystal necklace reflected in the glass window separating them from the newspaper. That was the display paper, but they knew it still had daily events.

"'Kidnapped as a part of Cyclonis' new master plan, involving a new crystal called the-'" Violet stopped reading. "Drat, the page ends there."

"Talk about cliffhanger," Ruby muttered. "But if they're kidnapped…"

The two looked at each other.

"We should do something. No one else will. And Cyclonis might start taking over again. And if she does…" the two thought of their home, Terra Atmosia, controlled by Cyclonians.

"Let's go,"

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Why she was here, she didn't know. Fate, with the top half of her face grey and the other pure white, like the rest of her body, purple hair with red tips and (currently) grey eyes, walked slowly through deserted streets. Her mainly black cloak swirled around her.

Why so deserted? Terra Neon, as Piper had mentioned once, was always packed. After the Storm Hawks rid it of the monster, it should be even more so.

There was a storm. Rain down poured around her. The weird thing was, even though the Terra was completely empty, the characteristic neon lights were still on.

As if people were there.

There was a resounding crash and Fate jumped. "What-"

As if from nowhere, a group of talons appeared. "Get her!"

Fate dodged. "Hey-"

She fell over, and then, the darkness came.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Ruby and Violet noticed a group of people collecting on the edge of Terra Cyclonia.

"Not Cyclonians," Violet said and the two landed instantly.

"And so we have… I think… seven people… yeah, seven, why don't we split-"

"More people joining the cause?" a girl with orange hair and purple glasses asked. "Rondana, make that nine."

"Nine it is," A girl with black hair in a dress said.

"Wait, what cause?" Ruby asked.

"The cause against Cyclonia. Well, I'm assuming that's why you're here, unless it's the tea party," Marknos said sarcastically.

"Ideal place for a tea party," Aladd muttered.

After the monotonous introductions, and the basic battle plans (which were none) everyone stood there.

"We could always charge into the palace," Tyrannis said, suggesting ideas.

"Sounds suicidal," Kurk said.

"Being here is suicidal," Violet added.

"Does anyone have any idea?" Marknos asked.

No one responded.

"I'm not even surprised," he muttered.

"Why don't we split up- one group the distraction, the other finds the Cabion, turns it off and gets the hell out of here," Lee said.

"The distraction could try and find the Sky Knights while they're at it," Rondana added.

"That might work," Aladd said. "Me, Tigger, Kurk and Rondana find the Cabion, the others distract and look for Sky Knights,"

The groups split off. Marknos then turned to his group- Tyrannis, Lee, Ruby and Violet. "Screw distractions. Who wants to start at Cyclonis herself?"

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"They have a better air defense," Weaverbird said.

"Well, of course they have an air defen- OH CRAP!"

Rina swerved. Weaverbird had meant that Cyclonia kicked up their air defense to Terra Bogaton level. But she could have sworn that there was a group of non Cyclonians on the ground level, how did they get in-

The cannons turned on and started shooting. "Go low!"

The two dove below the cloud line. Weaverbird knew they'd have to stay in the Wastelands, at least for now, lack of a better plan.

They landed precariously on a series of rocks, above the lava.

"Well, that was close."

"We need a new plan."

"Definitely,"

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"This is awful,"

Marina Dragmire, Sky Knight of Terra Gerudo, with amber eyes and red hair, stood on her Terra. Another storm was coming.

A storm like a hurricane.

Terra Gerudo, in all recorded history, had never had a hurricane. And what was worse, she knew all the Sky Knight squadrons had been kidnapped, and they were the only ones who could help her now. She couldn't leave her Terra like this, looking for them.

Wait. There was one squadron that hadn't been kidnapped…

The Phoenixes.

She'd call.

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"Feebie! You wouldn't go!"

Her squad mates clearly didn't want her to go to Cyclonia. "But we're the only squadron left, we need to do something-"

The phone rang.

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"Looks like Fate,"

Deep in Cyclonian Hell, also known as the dungeons, Aerrow saw a familiar face. He hadn't seen Fate in monthes.

"It's Fate? Really-"

Fate was in her own cell, diagonal from Aerrows and next to Piper and Shadows. Shadow was still asleep and Fate unconscious.

Piper peered through the bars. "Wonder what she's in for,"

Fate stirred and looked up. "What… Storm Hawks?"

"Morning!" Finn said in mock cheerfulness, even though it was clearly night.

There was a figure at the back of Fates cell. "Hmm? Wait..."

Everyone jumped again. "Emma?"

"Have we all been imprisoned today?!" Emma, which golden brown hair and blue eyes, asked, coming out of the corner and into view.

"That'd be a yes," Piper muttered.

"What're you in for?" Junko asked.

"Remember when you dropped me off at Terra Atmosia the other night, well the Condor was all ravaged when I came back and there was a group of talons and…"

"Yeah," Aerrow finished. "Maybe we should have called."

"Oh yeah, how's this for a call; 'Hey, Emma, we got kidnapped by Cyclonia, so don't go back to the Condor but you'll have to rescue us…'"

"Oh c'mon, shut up Finn." Piper said.

"Oh doom,"

"Stork is here too?" Emma asked. It was so dark she could barely see anything.

"Yep, the whole group is here," Junko said.

"Whoo… what happened?" Shadow looked up, woozy.

"Long story," Piper said. "You might just want to go back to sleep-"

"That's unnecessary," Fate said with a grin on her face. She pushed her cell door and it swung open.

"The key was on the floor."

"Typical Cyclonia…"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Also, Hidey213, I'll try and get Christi into Chapter Five… sorry for the wait…

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"Find a good way in," Tigger hissed.

In the sewers of Cyclonia, Tigger, Aladd, Kurk and Rondana slowly swept through knee deep, clearly not purified and oddly green waters. Tigger almost puked when she had seen it. But they had had no choice.

"I found it!" Aladd hissed. He pulled open a vent on the ceiling and dark red light filled the sewer.

"Perfect," someone muttered and they climbed through.

"You know," Aladd said. "We're about a block from that Steakhouse…"

"Oh, don't even _think _about going off to see Sara," Tigger said.

"I wasn't th-"

"Guys, we're not in the street anymore," Kurk said.

They were in a hallway that looked suspiciously like the palace. A group of talons rounded a corner and came down the hall. "Oh crap-"

"Everyone… uh…"

"Chroma crystal!"

Kurk came prepared. In a flash they all looked like talons.

"Hey," they said, perfectly innocently, as the talons passed.

After they left, Kurk turned to them. "That was close,"

"Let's just find us a Cabion,"

"Mind if I help?"

Everyone looked up. A guy with shoulder-length black hair and dull golden eyes had just… jumped from the ceiling? Was that it?

"You're not a talon, are you?" Rondana asked quickly, and then realized how stupid it sounded, seeing as they were all dressed as talons anyway.

"You're that group after the Cabion, right?" he asked. "My names Kai,"

"How'd you know about the Cabion?" Tigger asked.

"Everyone knows about the Cabion now. Word of its all over Atmos. I came to check it out,"

"Good point… well this is Aladd, Kurk, and Rondana, and I'm Tigger," Tigger said.

"And _now _let's find a Cabion,"

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Rina and Weaverbird stood, perched on the rocks.

"We're dragons. I could morph into a bigger dragon and we could breathe fire on the cannons or something,"

"I'm sure Cyclonia won't notice," Weaverbird said sarcastically. "How about we sneak up from the back? When we flew in, I'm pretty sure I didn't see any cannons there."

"That's where Cyclonis makes the airships take off," Rina said. "No wonder,"

"Get rid of a few army ships while we're at it, then,"

They stayed just below cloud level so as not to be shot and then, slowly flew up to where the airships normally take off. "How to sneak into Cyclonia…"

"Who said we had to sneak?" Rina asked. "Why not make a ruckus?"

"That works too," Weaverbird said and grinned.

"Hic- oh crap-"

"What?" Weaverbird looked at her. But her friend was now a salamander.

"Druid stone… hiccups… bad mix…" Rina said.

They were on Cyclonia, but the airship field was strangely deserted. "Yeah… uh… you need water?"

"Hic- maybe- hic-" Rina said, now a komodo dragon.

Weaverbird sighed.

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Marina and Feebie dragged their feet through the mud. "Usually, its just rock and sand- I mean, this place is a desert- but now, with all the rain…"

"It's all messed up. The weather patterns, I mean. I suspect Cyclonia," Feebie said.

"Exactly what I thought," Marina said. "I'm pretty sure a group of people are already taking care of it…"

"What? Taking care of it? But there are no more Sky Knights," Feebie said, confused.

"A group of people passed by on skimmers just a few hours ago," Marina said. "Names… I think they said they were from the Rock Hearts or something… but they left really quickly. A lot of others passed by, too,"

"Random citizens," Feebie said. "Cool,"

"But we still need a way to help this Terra while the others work from Cyclonia, any ideas?" Marina asked.

"It's weather, right?" Feebie asked. Marina nodded. "So we need a way to control the weather,"

"Is that even possible?" Marina asked.

"No idea,"

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Marknos, Ruby, Violet, Lee and Tyrannis walked through the halls of the palace. This particular hall was completely deserted.

"We got lucky," he said, wandering through. "Wonder where Cyclonis is…"

Footsteps echoed through the hallway. "Oh crap!"

"Theres at least 5…"

"More like 50…"

A group of talons appeared at the end of the hall.

"So much for deserted," Marknos muttered and got out his shivs. The others also got out their weapons. "How many are there?"

"Maybe… 20,"

"We can take them, right?" Violet asked. The others nodded.

"Good,"

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Fate and Emma walked out of their cell. "Good," Emma said, taking the key and shoved into the lock at Piper and Shadows cell. That door also opened.

"Shadow, wake up," Piper said. Shadow looked up.

"Oh what happened…? I could use some coffee right now…"

"No!" the other Storm Hawks said quickly.

"Alright, fine," Shadow said groggily. "What the… we're free?"

"Yep," Emma said, trying to get it into the other cell. "It doesn't work…"

"We need another key, don't we," Aerrow said. "Give me that paper clip, on the floor,"

"Kay," Fate handed it to him. Aerrow fumbled with it for a minute, and then his cell opened.

"And now, to stop Cyclonia,"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

And don't worry, Archer, this story won't end anytime soon. The chapter map goes to 25 at the least :D

As for the OC jacking... everyone! Claim your character somehow! And I'm going to attempt to list all the OCs, and their owners, right now (sorry if anything is spelled wrong): Shadow, ShadowQueen25; Fate, ShadowHawk91; Emma, Mahou Shoujo Crystalic Katomi; Tigger, Aladd, and Kurk; Mysgrl7 (read her story Tigger and the Rock Hearts people!); Kai, Archer; Rondana, me; Ruby and Violet, Cloud-Of-Dreams; Marknos, Ajunta Pall; Lee and Tyrannis, PinkPanther9.7; Marina, Star Wars Nut; Feebie, sapphir3 blu3 dragon; Weaverbird, Saerphe; Zarina, SakariWolfe; and Christi, Hidey213.

Deep breath... wow.

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Aerrow, Junko, Finn, Piper, Stork, Radarr, Fate, Shadow and Emma. All disguised as talons, they crept through the dungeons of Cyclonia, looking for a sufficient way out.

"So, where are the rest of the Sky Knights?" Aerrow asked. "Weren't more kidnapped?"

"Yeah…" Fate trailed off. "More were kidnapped. So why is no one here?"

A scream echoed from the end of the hallway. "Maybe there?"

The nine ran toward the sound of the scream. There was a door. Aerrow pushed it open, gently, and peered through.

"See anything?"

Aerrows eyes widened.

There were rows and rows of people there- not dressed in Cyclonian attire. Sky Knights. "You promise to serve me, on risk of being trapped and or killed in Cyclonia- forever?" Cyclonis was asking Starling.

"I… I…"

"Pledge yourself now, fool!"

"She's building an army," Piper whispered. "Of Sky Knights,"

"They wouldn't all fall in her trap, would they?" Emma asked.

"Hopefully not,"

"No… I won't…"

"Get the crystal," Cyclonis said to a talon. He disappeared momentarily, and then returned with a blank crystal.

"Is that-?" Piper started.

"Is that what?" Fate asked.

"A control crystal," she said.

"She's controlling them if they refuse to serve her," Shadow said.

"I will obey… yes… Master."

"Excellent,"

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"How to control the weather. Any meteorologists on this Terra?" Feebie asked.

"Already brought one," Marina said. A woman with long brunette hair walked into the room.

"My name is Jen, nice to meet you,"

"Same," Feebie said. "So, how do you control weather?"

Jen eyed her quizzically. "That's impossible."

"No it can't be! We must control the weather!" Feebie argued.

"Feebie, maybe theres another-" Marina started but Jen cut her off.

"There is _one _way,"

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Marknos, Ruby, Violet, Lee and Tyrannis stood slumped against the wall.

"Heh heh… some battle… we did okay…"

"We got _captured_, Marknos," Ruby argued.

The five sat in a cell in Cyclonian Dungeons.

"Yeah… we still did well though…"

"He got hit in the head. He'll be better… you know… soon," Lee said.

Tyrannis snorted.

"Well, anyway… hey, if the Sky Knights were kidnapped, where are they?" Violet asked. "Shouldn't they be in the dungeons?"

The others looked up, and realized they were the only occupied cell in the entire hall.

"Theres probably a good reason for that," Marknos said. "Like maybe they're in another hall?"

The room was silent.

"Okay, okay, something's up then…"

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"You realize, that to find the Cabion we need to find Cyclonis," Tigger said. "Right?"

"Suckish day," Rondana muttered.

"Everyone stop-" Aladd whispered. He looked around and through a door. "The Sky Knights are here,"

"But… shouldn't they be in the dungeons?"

"Yeah, well, they're in Master Cyclonis' throne room,"

Everyone peered in.

"They're being taken over," Kurk said. "With an imperious crystal,"

"You recognize it?" Rondana asked. He nodded.

"We need to do something," Kai said. He recognized Starling, and he knew if she was taken over, he'd never be a member of the New Interceptors, not to mention he didn't want his friends taken over by Cyclonians- or anyone, for that matter.

"Well, we can't just run in on them…" Aladd said. "Unless you want to become part of the new army,"

"We look like talons. We'll operate from the inside, see what they're up to and take it down," Kurk said.

"Rock Hearts," Tigger said.

"Rock Hearts?" Kai asked.

"Long story," Tigger said. She knew Rondana and Kai didn't really know who the Rock Hearts were, but for now, it didn't matter.

"Rock Hearts,"

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"Okay, we need a plan." Weaverbird said.

"I have a plan. It's called the crash-in," Rina said, chugging water and trying to get rid of the hiccups.

Meanwhile…

Christi flew just below the cloudline, at Cyclonia, looking for a plan. _Nobody _invaded her Terra Dragondrop without getting a piece of her mind. She was pissed.

Wait, dragons?

Christi's eyes widened and she sped up to where she saw a komodo dragon chugging water and another, larger blue dragon.

"…. The crash-in," one was saying. "All we have to do is decimate the palace and then their base-of-operations is gone."

Weaverbird spotted a golden-haired girl with braided pigtails, a blue-yellow outfit, and blue eyes. "And you are?" she knew the girl couldn't be Cyclonian.

"She's probably part of the –gulp- resistance force or –gulp- something," Rina said.

"I'm Christi… are you from Terra Dragondrop?" Christi asked.

"Never been there, sounds cool though," Rina said. "I'm Rina,"

"Weaverbird," the blue dragon said.

"Now, ready for the crash-in?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

"That's _awful,_" Piper gasped. "We have to do something!"

"Piper, we can't just run in… we'll get killed, or…"

Aerrow didn't say 'taken over' even though that was what they all were thinking.

Piper took out a small crystal. "Maybe this will work," The little white crystal flashed orange dangerously.

"What is it?" Finn asked. Stork shuddered.

"It's an anti imperious crystal," Piper said. "When activated correctly, it reduces mind control. Maybe only slightly, but we can convince the Sky Knights once they're partially free to come back and break the remaining mind control,"

"Then activate it," Fate said.

Piper got out another crystal, light green, and held the two about two inches apart. A yellow light filled the area- the room, hallway and part of the throne room outside the door.

"Steady…"

Cyclonis, several yards away and out of sight on her throne, saw a yellow light emit around part of the room. The part next to the hallway nearest the dungeons.

_Storm Hawks._

"All you Sky Knights, stay," she said and walked off.

"Yes, Master."

"Piper… I think Cyclonis is coming…" Shadow said. The light shut off, but Piper had a dazed look in her eyes. "Piper?"

"You okay?" Aerrow asked. Had she just hypnotized herself, or was this intentional?

"Piper…?"

"Storm Hawks," Cyclonis said in mock sweetness and strutted into the area, as if she had known they'd been there all along. Or had she? Everyone but Piper jumped two steps back.

"Come with me, Piper,"

"Yes…"

"She _has _hypnotized herself!" Fate gasped. "Piper, stay!"

Emma was horrified. Back on Earth- Gaia- mind control was only Sci fi, but here, they actually meant it. What more could Cyclonians do?

Piper had made a mistake activating the crystal…

There was a flash of light, and before any of them could do anything, Piper and Cyclonis had disappeared.

"No!"

"She didn't do that purposely, right?" Sometimes Aerrow didn't know about her.

"She didn't," Shadow said. "Piper doesn't go running off with Cyclonians,"

"We're doomed,"

"Oh, c'mon Stork…"

"Why didn't Cyclonis get us too? We were standing right here," Junko asked.

"Maybe we're a lure," Emma said. "Like in those movies where someone is kidnapped, the others try to rescue them but get kidnapped also,"

"Are you saying we shouldn't go back for her?" Aerrow asked.

"Well, maybe she'll come back herself, but Emma has a point, and if we do go we're definitely doomed…"

"_Stork_…"

"We'll get her back and not get caught, then," Aerrow said.

"Agreed, Finn-style," Finn added.

The others groaned.

"Okay, maybe not…"

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"Talons," Cyclonis said cheerfully. She spoke to a group of several hundred talons. Battle plans. Trying to blend in with them was Tigger, Aladd, Kurk, Rondana and Kai.

"I have yet another addition to our Master Plan," Cyclonis continued. "As you probably know, the Cabion was an enormous success. Terrible storms are destroying agriculture, which of course means food supplies are running out, which makes it that much easier to take over."

"So she _is _using the Cabion," Rondana hissed.

"…and that means Phase one of our Plan is complete. Phase two involves our beloved Sky Knights. The Imperious crystal has now completely controlled all but two. Aerrow of the Storm Hawks is still somewhere in this palace, but I'm happy to say his- good friend-" everyone knew that Aerrow had 'something' for Piper, probably because of how many times he'd try to protect her so much in talon fights with many of the talons standing there- "Piper is here. Under our power. And I have an idea for her…"

"Mind control, I can't believe it," Tigger whispered.

"All hail Cyclonia!" the talons cheered. The Rock Hearts had no choice but to agree and blend in, for now. "All hail Cyclonia!"

"Now, talons, disperse. Your duties await you,"

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"How do we get out?" Ruby sat, wondering to herself. Still in Cyclonian dungeons.

"I have a plan. Just follow my lead," Marknos said, standing up. He walked over to the edge of the cell and waved by a talon. "Hey, talon!"

It was a orange haired girl, maybe ten. Ten? Did Cyclonia really hire that young?

Well, apparently so.

"Can I uh, borrow that?" he asked, pointing to the red-orange stone on her belt. He gambled she didn't know what it was. Dynamite crystal.

"Actually- Marknos?"

"Huh? How do you know my name?"

The rest of the people in the cell stared.

"Oh, uh, long story…" the girl said, when Marknos realized who she was. Tigger.

"Uh, doesn't matter, just give me the crystal, kay? It will go to good use," he said.

Tigger nodded and handed it to him. "Just don't completely destroy Cyclonia," she said and walked off.

"You know a _talon_?" Tyrannis asked.

"Long story," Marknos explained. "Just back up to the wall. This _will _blow up."

Everyone jumped to the wall as Marknos lit the crystal and threw it out of the bars of the cell, into the hallway.

As the crystal ignited everything became flame and Marknos saw the outline of his cell door collapsing in the mess…

CCCCCC

"It's the Meteora crystal," Jen continued. "Weather control,"

"Do you have it, can you give it to us?" Feebie questioned.

"Can I trust you?" Jen asked.

The question lingered in the air for a moment. They all knew the real question was 'would the Meteora be safe?'.

"We'll be able to control it," Feebie said quickly.

"You don't know what you're getting yourselves into," Jen said. "You can try it, but you'll want me to take it away,"

She handed them the crystal with a smug grin and walked off.

Marina's first thought was that the crystal she was holding, clear but with pictures of a storm moving in it, like a hologram, was fake. But the crystal looked real. She knew that if it was real they'd have to learn how to use it themselves.

She held the crystal in her hand as it pulsated, emitting weird blue light. Suddenly, the light spread across the room.

The storm outside stopped and Marina could have sworn she heard a bird outside chirping.

In shock, she dropped it and as soon as it hit the ground the thunder started again.

"Wow," Feebie muttered. She leaned over and picked up Meteora and held it, as if willing it to do something.

"What are you doing?" Marina asked.

"Rain," she said. "Not a storm-just a little rain. Your Terra looks like a drought," Feebie said.

"Deal,"

A rush of rain could be heard. Marina looked out the window, which was soaked from the outside.

Feebie beamed and put down the crystal, but instantly the rain grew worse, flooding rain.

"So this might be a problem…" Feebie said as the image inside the Meteora changed to a flood.

CCCCCC

Part of the Cyclonian palace burst into flames.

Sure, it was only the back end, and only part of it at that, but it was still a crash-in.

"Ha! Fire breathing dragon!" Rina cheered, again in dragon form. Weaverbird popped out of part of the rubble, causing more of it to collapse, with a happy grin on her face.

"This is fun!"

"Oh yeah!" Christi charged a gunpowder crystal and threw it toward the palace. It exploded like fireworks.

"WHY YOU LITTLE-"

Ravess stormed out of an entrance in the front and walked over.

Strangely, she had a sly grin on her face. Weaverbird realized why as she held up a dark crystal and the world faded…


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

Answer to the question

The two Sky Knights she refers to are Feebie and Aerrow. Marina also wasn't captured, but Master Cyclonis doesn't know this, because… well, there are literally several hundred or so Sky Knights, and seeing as MC thinks the talons have taken care of most of them, she thinks Marina is one of them and the talons have already put her under their control. Considering most talons are inept anyway, it's not surprising. Which means Marina will definitely surprise them later. :D

She knows that Aerrow and Feebie are still not controlled because the Storm Hawks have basically foiled every single evil plan she's come up with, so she tried desperately to keep a good tab on them, and with her talons, of course failed, and the Phoenixes are very closely linked to the Storm Hawks, so she would know if they're out too…

Alright, nobody kill me about this. I should have specified all of this (which means it was my fault) Yes, MC definitely knows Marina exists and she entrusted taking over her with her talons, but those talons… you know those talons.

CCCCCC

"But it's a lure!"

"_Stork!_"

"We're talking about Piper here!"

The Storm Hawks, Shadow, Fate and Emma were arguing with Stork.

"Look. All I'm saying is we could get kidnapped too. Aerrow this is _mind control._" Stork said.

As if we don't already know, Fate thought.

"We have to go find her," Emma decided.

Stork groaned.

While they all agreed that Cyclonis was probably using Piper as a lure, they all knew that they had to save her. Maybe it was Finns cockiness, but they were sure they'd do fine.

That is, until they realized Fate had allergies.

"Ah- achoo!" Fate sneezed, and a small fireball blasted across the room.

"You sneeze _fireballs_?" Emma asked.

"Heh, heh- achoo!"

"She's allergic to dust," Aerrow said.

"Well at this rate, we're all doomed."

"_Stork!_"

"Achoo!"

A group of talons rounded the corner and stared. Aerrow instantly realized how foolish it was to travel the Cyclonian Palace without a disguise, but Piper had their chroma crystals and they had no time to change.

Nobody moved. One of the talons looked oddly familiar…

CCCCCC

The Storm Hawks had _escaped?_

Kurk was surprised. Then again, the Storm Hawks always seemed to escape. But one was missing.

The girl, Piper?

And one of them had been sneezing fireballs. So when Aladd got hit in the head by some flaming material (thank goodness for fire extinguishers) they had turned a corner and found a girl with err- unusual allergies.

Cyclonis had ordered all of them, back at the Assembly, to take over- mind control- all strays. That must have included the Storm Hawks.

But the Rock Hearts weren't traitors. They wouldn't let their- well, still enemies, but someone fighting against Cyclonia- be taken over.

"Uh, guys?" Kai asked.

"What?"

They looked up. The Storm Hawks, the weird allergy girl and someone else had their weapons out.

They couldn't disclose their identity- that would lose the whole point- but they also couldn't run away like coward talons, because working in the depths of Cyclonia, being a coward meant death, and death didn't help them right now.

Could they really fight them?

Maybe there was no other choice. They'd have to turn the Storm Hawks in. But Kurk trusted that they would find a way out again- or they'd leave the key on the floor, like they had done earlier before they were disguised- and Cyclonia would definitely pay for this.

"Storm Hawks, surrender,"

Tigger was surprised at how authentic Kurk sounded…

CCCCCC

"And so you thought it would be funny to blow up the dungeons?" Cyclonis hissed. Ruby, Violet, Lee, Tyrannis and Marknos all stood before her in the throne room. Cyclonia had caught them halfway in their escape plan.

"Uh, yeah." Marknos said.

The masses of controlled Sky Knights around them disturbed everyone but Cyclonis. Had this been what the new army they had proposed was about?

Mind control?

Did the others already know about this? Tyrannis thought. Or were they as clueless?

"You thought it would be fun, okay. Now where did you get the crystal?" Cyclonis asked, referring to the dynamite crystal.

"It was on the floor," Marknos said, not wanting to give away a specific talon, or even 'a talon', in case Cyclonia became suspicious that there were spies among her army.

"What's with all the Sky Knights?" Lee butted into the conversation.

The Master looked at him and her eyes flashed.

"You're one of _those _talons," she said, meaning talons who had left Cyclonia and joined the resistance. Lee felt his face grow hot.

"You can't control what your talons do, and besides, Cyclonia is a failed cause anyway." Tyrannis said.

"FAILED CAUSE!?" Cyclonis lost her temper, which was already close to the edge.

Violet snickered. Some people really knew how to get on Cyclonis' ugly side.

Although, and Cyclonis wouldn't let on to this, but she was surprised by them.

"What is this, about the Sky Knights?" Lee asked again.

Cyclonis made every effort not to seem annoyed. "Mind control. They're part of the new army." She said, as if nothing had gone wrong, the dungeons were being blasted by fire extinguishers at this moment, and Cyclonia hadn't been brutally insulted.

"Talons aren't good enough, huh?"

"Why you little-"

CCCCCC

"You know something weird," Feebie said as she and Marina blocked the door with sandbags as water trickled through. "Nearby Terras are also saying the rain level changed."

"As in?" Marina asked. Gerudo was the only Terra flooding, right? They still couldn't 'turn off' the Meteora.

"It's spreading," Feebie said. "It's like the clouds are multiplying or something. And what if the press finds out? What if they learn about the Meteora?"

Marina ignored the later questions. "Spreading… like a disease?"

Feebie looked up. "A disease?"

CCCCCC

Mixed in with a group of talons and Sky Knights were two dragons and a young girl. Once they had woken up, they had been informed they were part of the new army.

Typical.

Would they be able to stop Cyclonia like this?

"First Terra of invasion will be easy," Cyclonis said to the group. "You are the invasion force. Your Terra is Terra Dragondrop."

Christi's mouth fell open. "They can't- I- but-"

"I have another idea," Rina grinned.

"Oh, joy," Weaverbird said sarcastically, remembering the crash-in.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

Note from Mysgrl7- although Tigger looks about 10, she's really 13.

As for the Mary Sue test, anything under at borderline sue or less is good, especially for Storm Hawks, which the tests do have this problem with… ah well… Rondana got 'not a mary sue' though, kind of surprised me…

CCCCCC

"You're letting us go?"

Shadow asked the weird talons quizzically. Something was… off. Talons wouldn't just let someone go, right? Especially when they're Storm Hawks and cause enough problems as it is?

There was only one wing of the dungeon still accessible, but when Kai had seen it, the fake talons decided against turning the Storm Hawks in with the easiest talon mistake- 'slipping' the key.

"Yeah, we're letting you go. We hate Cyclonis as much as you do." He said to Shadow. "But… it wasn't us who let you off."

And they all walked off. Leaving the Storm Hawks surprised, confused, and lucky.

And of course, they pulled the key again and escaped. "You know, I could swear one of those talons looked _exactly _like Tigger. The hair and I thought I saw a key necklace…" Shadow said.

"You think it was the Rock Hearts?" Finn asked. While it was great to be free- again- it was annoying that the 'blasted Rock Hearts' had freed them.

"Whatever it is, we don't get caught this time, right Fate?" Aerrow asked.

"Right- achoo!"

"We're doomed."

CCCCCC

Kai, Tigger, Aladd, Kurk and Rondana, or better known as the five talons. The five weird talons who freed the innocent under separate identities.

Yeah, those talons.

A sickly sweet voice filled the hall.

"Is that you, Aladd?"

Tigger recognized the voice instantly. Sara.

"How can she tell it's you?" Tigger asked Aladd. He shrugged.

Sara had a strange look in her eyes when she caught up to them. "Why are you all dressed up as talons?"

"You should know why by now." Aladd said. He looked at Sara strange for a second, who didn't respond.

"Sara, it's Cyclonia, I mean-"

He was cut off when Sara pulled him in and the two started kissing. Tiggers eye twitched.

"Don't worry; it'll blow over... eventually." Rondana said as Kai suppressed the urge of laughter at Tiggers predicament and Kurk shrugged helplessly.

CCCCCC

They were still in the throne room.

"The Dark Ace will come to see you shortly- especially you, Lee." Cyclonis snickered.

Lee glared at her. He hated Ace probably more then anyone else in the room. He swore to himself when Dark Ace came, he would pay.

"Well, this sucks." Marknos said.

Lee's eye twitched as Cyclonis started possessing more Sky Knights, ignoring them. "I hate her so much…"

"Why not cause some more trouble?" Marknos asked.

"No, seriously, the dynamite thing was enough-" Ruby started.

"Aw, c'mon." Marknos said, getting out the remains of the dynamite crystal he had salvaged. He lit them.

"_Marknos!_"

He threw the crystal toward the wall, which erupted in little fireworks.

Cyclonis looked toward them, but paid no attention to the fireworks above her. "I'm not even surprised, this time."

Dark Ace sauntered into the room. "Plans going well, Master?"

"_Now _this sucks." Ruby said.

"Agreed,"

CCCCCC

"A disease?" Feebie eyed her quizzically.

Marina pulled out a book. "I was just thinking, because weather doesn't spread like that… naturally."

"This is crystals. It's not natural." Feebie said blankly. "You don't mean, has it been cursed or something?"

"There are legends about cursed crystals." Marina said. "And don't you think it's unusual that as soon as you let go of it, the weather changes back to what it was before? Do you think whoever invented the crystal did that intentionally?" She flipped through the book.

"Well… maybe… is that a book about the Meteora?"

"No, 'A history of Unstable Crystals and their uses. The Meteora's in here."

"So that means it's an unstable crystal," Feebie said. "That's not good."

"'Only people who have a special control over the Meteora can control it at all, but controlling it is difficult'" Marina read from the book.

"So we are one of those special people?"

"I guess, I'm not sure," Marina said. "We should probably fix the flood first…"

She took the Meteora again. Again, the rain stopped, but the door burst under pressure and the empty room filled knee deep with water.

"Uh… Marina?"

"I know."

CCCCCC

Terra Dragondrop, Weaverbird saw, was actually very scenic. But coupled with talon landings and a Cyclonian horizon, it didn't look so great.

Rina was actually a raptor. Weaverbird already knew this, but she hadn't seen her raptor form up until then. And now, they were all talons.

"Okay, here's my idea," Rina said. They were inside the Cyclonian airship as it slowly landed. "We can help the civilians here build up a resistance. They did that on Terra Gale, I think, and it worked well."

"I have an idea, also." Christi said. "After my parents were kidnapped, we hid the dragons here from Cyclonia on Terra Neon. It's nearby. So we could go back to Terra Neon and get the dragons, and they could help too."

"That could also work," Weaverbird said, but cringed at the idea of dragons being used as defense.

"Then let's do it."

Meanwhile…

A random Cyclonian general put his feet up on the desk as he felt the airship hit the ground. He checked the video camera again. These three talon captives wanted to overthrow the regime like this?

Not quite.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

The halls echoed every footstep. This wing of the dungeon was completely deserted.

"Achoo!" Fate sneezed- again.

"We're doomed," Stork said- again.

Another pair of footsteps was heard as Piper rounded the corner. "Guys! I'm okay!"

A series of 'yes's, 'hooray's, and high fives were heard as she ran up to them.

"So what happened?" Shadow asked. "What did Cyclonis do?"

"What do you mean?"

The hall silenced for a moment. "What do you mean what do you mean?"

"_Mind control._" Stork said. Emma didn't know whether he meant Piper was being controlled or if Cyclonis did mind control on others while she was with her.

"No mind control," Piper said. "The Sky Knights got controlled. They'll make a _great _army."

Aerrow noticed her normally orange eyes had the weirdest tint of red in them…

"Piper?" Fate asked. "You okay?"

Piper grinned. "I'm _always _okay."

Cyclonia.

CCCCCC

"You know, I don't know why you try to fight Cyclonia."

Sara blathered on as the group wandered, listening to bits of talon conversation and trying to blend in. Tigger, Rondana, Kurk and Kai were thoroughly annoyed at her, but Aladd didn't seem to care.

"It's the greater good, Sara." He said. What had gotten into her today? Sure, she believed in Cyclonis, but she believed in Aladd too. Why would she suddenly give up on them like this?

"Well, it seems stupid. If I were you, I'd join Cyclonis before you all get killed."

Tigger spun around and glared at her. But wait… were Sara's eyes _red?_

"Aladd…" she said, just below a whisper. "I think Sara's being controlled."

"Just because I have a new opinion doesn't mean I'm being controlled!"

"Yeah, Tigger!" Aladd argued. Oh no. He wasn't falling for Sara like this, right?

"Tigger's right," Rondana said. "And doesn't Sara have blue eyes?"

Everyone looked at Sara. Her eyes were dark red.

"Yeah, who else do you know that's not Cyclonian who has eyes like that?" Kai asked.

Saras eyes flashed in anger. "Oh, c'mon…"

"Yeah, she's not evil…"

Kai shook his head and smacked Sara upside the head, knocking her out. He knew what Cyclonis had said at the rally. And this, no way, was normal. Even if he'd just met Sara. It was the eyes and the attitude.

"_HEY! _Don't you knock out my girlfriend!"

"She's being CONTROLLED!"

"No she's not!"

"Yes she is!"

But let's face it. Only Aladd didn't realize she was now part of the Master Plan…

CCCCCC

The Dark Ace eyed all of them, as if weighing how much of a threat they'd be. He didn't speak to Cyclonis or show any emotion.

Was that unusual?

"These ones should be dumped into the Wastelands," Ace said coldly.

His eyes rested on Lee, and he snickered. Lee glared at him.

"Thrown into the Wastelands? That's kind of harsh." Marknos said.

Cyclonis shook her head. "They blew up part of the palace. There's got to be something more painful then that."

Dark Ace gritted his teeth. "What's more painful then being thrown into boiling lava, may I ask?"

Was he giving Cyclonis a cold shoulder? Ruby wondered. And if so, why?

Violet nudged Ruby. "Something's… 'up' with them," she whispered.

Ruby nodded. "Normally they're all… buddy-buddy, friend like."

"So that's weird." Tyrannis butted into the conversation.

"Definitely,"

"So what do we do about it?" Ruby asked as Dark Ace and Cyclonis began to argue about means of torture.

Violet grinned. "Use it against them, of course."

CCCCCC

"I know this," Marina said. "The Meteora has more powers then just weather, I'm sure."

"And how do you know this?" Feebie asked as Marina flipped through a book about unstable crystals.

Marina opened to a page. "This is how. Read it."

As Feebie scanned the page, Marina toyed with the Meteora for a moment. How many more powers did it have?

"It says the Meteora can control over emotions," Feebie said. "But this is a weather crystal. That doesn't make any sense-"

"Rain clouds equal bad day, sunshine equals happiness." Marina answered. An analogy? "As in, weather can help determine your mood. The Meteora also controls emotion."

"Like seasonal affection syndrome?" Feebie asked. "How do you know this is even accurate, anyway? What is with you and the crystal?"

Marina had no idea. She knew it wasn't some prophecy or anything, but…

Maybe she had special powers over the Meteora?

She dismissed that idea immediately. Keep dreaming…

CCCCCC

"We have now officially claimed Terra Dragondrop as ours."

The words stung. Inside the generals office, General MacIntire watched then with a keen eye. Still inside the airship.

"So there is proof you were plotting against Cyclonia."

"Uh… no?"

The general slammed his hand on the desk. "There was video evidence!"

Nice temper?

"You know what, I don't even care. You'll be part of the occupation force," he said, jotting something down on a formal-looking sheet.

"_WHAT?!_" Christi gasped.

"That's right, girlie. Now occupy."

The room was silent.

"GO!"

"Yessir!"

Save for hoards of talons roaming the place, Terra Dragondrop was relatively sunny. There was a crash and Rina could have sworn she heard a civilian scream…

"Stop screaming, gosh!" someone yelled.

She jumped. That definitely didn't sound like a talon- it sounded like a young boy…

"I'm here to help!" the same person yelled again. More screaming.

All three glanced at each other and took off. Dodging around trees, homes and signs, Weaverbird, Rina and Christi went over to investigate.

"What's going on?!"

The civilian was on the ground, looking up from inside a net. Above him was a kid of twelve or so. The kid looked at them quizzically.

"I didn't do nothing wrong!"

The civilian blinked. "This- this _kid_ put me in a net!" Suddenly his eyes widened, and he gave them a shot of hatred.

Typical. They still looked like talons.

The kid ignored the talon-ness, "It was for his one good! I knew talons were coming! But wait…" he raised an eyebrow- "You aren't talons, are you."

"Well- hey, how did you know…?-" Weaverbird was cut off, surprised. How would this kid tell if they were talons or not?

"Dragons don't work for Cyclonia," he said. "And besides, you just told me."

"Oh, this kid is good…" Rina muttered.


	10. Chapter 10

Doom counter? I would so want to see that... be a lot of work counting though... I mean, I can't count over 200 without getting distracted... or bored... :D

**Chapter Ten**

Drip, drip, drip. The ceiling oozed as water from condensation tapped their heads.

Shadow walked with them. She could almost feel Pipers eyes on her.

Drip, drip.

Why hadn't Piper gone back to Cyclonis yet? Why was she still following them? Piper was being controlled, so-

Drip.

"That water thing is annoying me like crap." Fate said, trying to avoid the leaks.

Drip, drip.

"That's it!"

"Fate, it's just water." Aerrow sighed.

"Reminds me of that American torture technique… waterboarding." Emma lamented.

"Sounds like Fun," Finn was thinking of surfing, wasn't he?

"So not fun,"

Drip, drip.

"Okay, I _really _have to go to the bathroom." Shadow moaned.

"Ditto," Piper said almost instantly.

"And how convenient, there's a bathroom right across the hall," Aerrow pointed to two identical doors, one with a pink sign, one in blue. "Hurry up,"

"That _is _oddly convenient,"

"Be right back,"

Shadow burst into the room and found a stall. Ah, sweet relief… stupid ceiling dripping thing…

_Shadow, _a sweet voice cooed. _Come to me._

That voice had the strangest appeal to it… Shadow finished washing her hands and looked up. There were two doors she could choose from- the one she came in, and another, it's destination unknown.

_Come to me._

Something drew her to the second door…

There was a squawk and Griffey burst in. Shadow gave- _him- _a quizzical look.

Griffey squawked again. _Don't do it, Shadow-_

_Come with me, Griffey._

You couldn't really tell what Griffey was thinking, but he followed Shadow to the other door.

They pushed it open. Beyond it was the throne room. Odd. Piper and Cyclonis stood side by side, giggling. Dark Ace was in the back, gritting his teeth.

_Daddy?_

"Glad you could join us," Piper said sweetly.

Shadow had a sudden instinct to run. What was she doing here?

_Join Cyclonia, Shadow…_

"Yes, Master," Shadow said, a wicked grin crossing her face. Her green eyes flashed red.

"Squawk…" Griffey agreed in a strange monotone.

Meanwhile…

Fate heard a door close from inside the bathroom. Shadow was taking forever…

Emma met her glance. "They _have _been awhile," she said, seeing Fate look at the door.

CCCCCC

_Aladd…_

Aladd sat next to Sara, who was on the ground. She had just woken up. They were completely alone.

_They knocked me out. Why would you want to stay with them?_

After they had knocked Sara out, Aladd had picked her up and ran off. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but he knew Sara needed it. How dare they hit his girlfriend!

This was a desolate corner of the palace. No one could find them here.

Sara looked up at him and blinked. Was she communicating to him telepathically?

_Aladd… Cyclonia… Make your choice…_

"Yes… of course… why not…" Aladd ran through answers. His eyes flashed red. Control spreading like a disease…

Meanwhile…

"Where is he?!" Kai asked. "He just ran off!"

"With Sara," Tigger grumbled.

The group combed the halls, looking for him.

"Are you sure it's not the Catseye curse?" Rondana asked. "Maybe that's why he left?"

Tigger looked at her. "But he's following Saras orders, not the Dark Ones."

"Good point."

"So where did they run off to…"

CCCCCC

Ruby's eyes lit up. "Oh, I have the _best _idea."

The group had been moved to another room, Cyclonis having to do some sort of 'private buisness'. They spoke just above a whisper, talons eying them suspiciously from their guard at the door.

"A crystal," Tyrannis ventured.

"How did you know?"

The rest of them watched the two quizzically. Know what?

"Because, I figured you wanted to drive Dark Ace and Cyclonis apart- he is acting weird to her, probably because she's taken a liking to Piper instead of him- and the Meteora crystal controls emotions, so you could use that, get them mad at each other, and bring down Cyclonia's leaders." Tyrannis answered.

The others stared.

"As in, you want to drive a wedge between them," Tyrannis said.

"Oh, he's good," Marknos agreed. Lee nodded.

"And he's right… how do you know that much about crystals?"

"I know crystals," Tyrannis replied simply.

"The only question… where is this crystal?"

There was a yell from the nearby throne room. "They have _WHAT?!_"

"I think I have an idea," Marknos grabbed a cup and pressed it to the wall.

"Shh…"

CCCCCC

Cyclonis slammed her hand on the table. "I can't believe they have IT!"

"What is it, Master." Shadow asked, still being controlled.

"Squawk," Griffey asked dryly.

"This Meteora- crystal- ultra powerful and apparently on Gerudo- with-"

Cyclonis went bug eyed when she realized just _who_ the Meteora had to be with.

Marina Dragmire…

Damn talons…

Yet again, Meanwhile…

"It controls emotion, and weather," Feebie summed up.

"That makes perfect sense," Marina said sarcastically.

"Yeah…"

"This is a weapon. So we have to handle it like a weapon," Marina continued. "Right?"

"Or we could just destroy Cyclonia completely."

"_Well…"_

CCCCCC

"My name is Jack," the kid continued. "Nice ta meetcha,"

Weaverbird nodded. "Yeah, nice…"

"I have a plan to save this Terra," Jack said proudly, bluntly, as if he was above small talk.

Christi jumped. "Really?!"

"Excuse me, guy in a net here." The civilian said.

"Oh, right…"

"I live in this cave," Jack was saying later, as they walked- "Near these mountains on this place on this Terra,"

"Really," Rina said, not paying attention. No longer as talons- or rather, no longer looking like talons- they were free to do anything.

As long as Cyclonia didn't know.

"Here it is," Jack showed off a shack at the base of what looked like a large cliff.

There was nothing inside.

"You live here?" Christi asked. She sounded disappointed.

"Not quite,"

He pulled on the fabric roof and a trapdoor appeared below them.

"Hop in,"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

Emma pushed past them and walked into the girls bathroom when she spotted another door.

_Come to me._

Everything pieced itself together immediately. This bathroom _was_ too conveinant. It was a trap, and anyone who went in would be-

Controlled?

Emma stepped back. She _had _heard that voice. But she didn't feel controlled or any more Cyclonian. So why-

_Come to me._

"No," she said. It was surprisingly easy.

This clearly made no sense.

_Emma…_

Was it because she was Gaian? Maybe this only worked on actual Atmosians…

Fate walked in. "Emma, what are you-"

She stopped talking for a second. Was she hearing that voice too?

Fate started walking slowly for the other door, when suddenly-

"Achoo!"

She blinked. "Was that… mind control? I thought I was juts kind of walking and then there was this weird sensation and…"

"Yep," Emma said. "I'm not sure why, but it doesn't work on me."

Fate nodded. "That is… weird."

CCCCCC

"This is disgusting," Kai said angrily.

They had searched everywhere in the palace. Aladd was _nowhere._

Looking from a tiny hole in the wall on the second floor, the fake talons watched from above Cyclonis implement her plans into action.

They saw dozens of people down there. Shadow… Piper… Aladd… Sara… Starling…

This was _maddening._

"What's the point of being a talon if you can't actually attack Cyclonia?" he asked.

"You can," Kurk said. "Just be a traitorous talon,"

"Oh, that's good," Rondana nodded in agreement.

The wall was so old it was crumbling. Kai grinned and hit it with his fit, and part of it collapsed, giving way to a large hole.

"Let's end this," he said.

As in, get Cyclonis and get her to stop…

Cyclonis looked up and saw a huge hole in the wall, several talons looking down at her.

"Now!"

Kai jumped and landed on his feet, followed by Rondana, Tigger and Kurk.

Cyclonis hissed and pulled out her staff, not sure what these talons where planning but knowing that any talon that just jumps into the throne room is not good. She pulled out her crystal staff. "Try me,"

"Let's just get all the soppy hissy stuff over," Tigger said, exasperated already of Cyclonis' constant threats and wanted to prove she could do better then her.

Cyclonis lunged at her.

Kai blocked her with his staff, the shadow crystal disguising his appearance, and ended up behind Cyclonis. He bonked her on the head.

She spun around and hit him in the side with her staff. "Sky Knights, attack!"

Shadow grabbed a sword and lunged at Tigger. In all her days, Tigger would never have expected this. She smacked Shadow upside the head, as if to knock some sense into her, and Shadow jumped back and ended up crashing into Kurk, who was trying to hold off Piper and Starling.

But none of them knew they were Rock Hearts, still. How… was unusual the right word?

Rondana jumped, hit Piper in the back with her staff, and ended up knocking out several talons at the same time. She hated to hit people she trusted- namely Piper- but a mind controlled weak person was better then a mind controlled army.

It turned out to be controlled Sky Knights and Cyclonis vs. seemingly talons.

Kurk punched Cyclonis in the neck, but she dodged and then snapped back at Kurk when suddenly his 'wig'- the hat covering his bald head- caught onto her staff and was torn off.

Instantly, she saw who it was. There was only one person with a head that shiny. It was Kurk Stepsecond.

_Rock Hearts…_

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"So we need the Meteora. If Dark Ace and Cyclonis get bitter toward each other, we've just eliminated the two strongest leaders in the world. Yay." Ruby summarized.

"So where is it?"

Ruby peaked through a hole in the wall. "Watch Cyclonis. See what she does,"

Marknos yawned. "How will that help?"

Ruby ignored him. "These talons just- fell from the sky-"

Marknos eyed her quizzically. "Okay then…"

"No, seriously!"

Marknos made room and looked through the tiny hole as well. A group of stray talons were fighting Cyclonis.

Stupid traitors.

But he noticed orange hair coming out of one of the caps. Those weren't _actual _talons, were they?

"Isn't that-" he started when a fake wig was pulled off and Kurk's bald head appeared.

Yep. That was Kurk.

"That's typical,"

Tyrannis leaned over. "Who- oh wow,"

"They're going to be in huge trouble," someone muttered.

"Guys," Violet picked up a newspaper on a nearby table. "I found it!"

"Found what, a decent weapons?-"

The newspaper was titled: "Meteora crystal rumored to be on Terra Gerudo"

"I found the Meteora!"

Everyone spun around.

CCCCCC

There was a scream from outside.

"What the-?" Feebie asked, turning to face the window. "You heard that, right?"

Marina nodded. "Yeah…"

The two exchanged a look and ran outside.

It was one word- chaos.

Civilians were running and screaming, and in a second they saw why- there were talon skimmers rimming the horizon, and a Cyclonian airship was visible in the distance.

The Cyclonians had the Cabion, and she realized the Cabion was the twin to Meteora…

Cyclonia knew about the crystal, didn't they… this wasn't good.

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Below was a massive underground labyrinth- a cave. It stretched into the darkness as candles illuminated it's walls.

"You live _here_?" Christi asked, surprised.

"Not quite. I hide dragons here."

"Wait… aren't all of them at Neon?"

Neon? Dragon hiding? What were they talking about? "_Hide _dragons? Why would you have to hide them? And in this cave?" Weaverbird asked. Unless these were mini-dragons, she found this place very claustrophobic.

"Where else would we hide them, the Wastelands?" Jack asked sarcastically.

"Well why would you hide them to start with?" Rina asked, relatively annoyed with this kid.

"Cyclonia, duh," he said, as if that explained everything.

Know- it- all kid.

"Oh yes, because I'm sure Cyclonia's plan includes the slaughter of all dragons for no good reason," she said sarcastically.

Jack gave her a look.

"They'll _kidnap _them," he said bluntly.

Weaverbird shuddered.

"… as part of an army. That's Cyclonia. We use the dragons in hiding here to defend and get rid of Cyclonians on Dragondrop," he added.

"Whoa, wait- _dragon _army? Since when do we fight for you?" Weaverbird asked. That wasn't any better then Cyclonia's tactics.

"Just to free the Terra. Anyway, these dragons want to. They don't want to live in a cave. This is _their _Terra." Jack pointed out.

"It's not going to be some huge battle. We'll kick talon ass before they know what hit them," Christi grinned.

"This better work,"

"Oh, it will,"

The talons scrambled out of the way. Christi rode on a sleek red dragon, Penny right behind. With a flamethrower.

"Whoo!"

Weaverbird also had a flamethrower. You had to admit, Jack was strange, but he had _weapons. _

The good news was no talons were actually burning to death. That's human torture, of course. Which was why Rina had the fire extinguisher. This meant while talons either ran around in blazing heat or in a choking cloud of smog, nobody got that hurt. But it killed morale, and talons aren't that persistent. In short, they were retreating.

Jack really was a weird kid…


	12. Chapter 12

A quarter to get OUT?! Seriously?! What if you only brought one quarter? Would you be stuck? Would someone have to get you? What if they didn't have a quarter?

**Chapter Twelve**

Why _had_ she not been taken over? Piper had… so why not Fate?

The question bothered her. She was pretty sure she knew why Emma hadn't succumbed- it was her Gaian-ness- maybe. Either that or she was really good at crystal resisting.

The voice kept taunting her. _Come to me._

_No, I don't feel like it. Leave me alone, freak._

For now, Fate decided, it only mattered that she wasn't being controlled, not why.

She pushed the door open slightly and peeked out, Emma right behind her.

Holy crap.

The controlled people- and Cyclonis, apparently- were _beating up _a group of talons. But she could have sworn one was the bald man from earlier-

Emma felt dizzy. Maybe she couldn't resist this thing as much as she had thought. She turned away.

"We'll do something about that," she said, meaning the talons and the fight going on and the control, "But if we get controlled now, we won't be any help,"

"Good point," Fate nodded. She turned back to where the rest of the Storm Hawks were, Emma following.

"Guys," Aerrow was holding a tiny red crystal as they came out, "Look at this!"

Fate recognized it instantly from Pipers constant crystal lectures. "Is that-"

"An anti imperious?"

They really had hit the jackpot on what Piper had left behind…

CCCCCC

Cyclonis was bug-eyed.

Normally, Kai would laugh at this- she looked _hilarious _right now- but now was not a good time.

Everyone froze and stopped fighting.

Cyclonis suddenly regained herself. "So it's _you, _Rock Hearts," she said angrily.

"Yep, it's us," Tigger said nonchalantly. She wanted Cyclonis to be upset. It was fun seeing her get mad at things, and then- they could escape.

Suddenly Cyclonis grinned.

"Well, I have news for you," she said. She walked around the group to Piper, who had been behind them, and whispered something in her ear. Piper snickered.

What was she laughing about?

Cyclonis walked back around and stood in front of them. She was holding a pale white crystal.

"How would you like to be part of a little… experiment?"

CCCCCC

"Here," Ruby said, some time later, "Use this vent," She held the newspaper in her hand. The talons had fallen asleep on guard.

"What are we doing again?" Marknos asked.

"Escaping,"

"No, I mean, why are we trying to get to Gerudo?"

Ruby gave him a look as she crawled in. "Well, here's the plan. Dark Ace and Cyclonis are obviously mad at each other. We use the Meteora- an emotion/weather crystal- to elevate that, and the two greatest leaders of Cyclonia collapse, so does the empire. And according to the press, the Meteora is on Terra Gerudo,"

Marknos followed her in. "Right,"

"Right,"

"Right!" Lee Barrs followed.

"Uh… guys?"

Everyone looked back. Tyrannis stood in front of the opening.

"I don't think I'll fit in there…"

He had a point. The vent was only two feet in diameter. It was a surprise anyone fit.

Violet, who was right behind Lee, stopped and thought for a second. "How about… we get rid of the talons while they're asleep, then just break out, no vents included?"

"Yes. Let's do that." Marknos said, eager to leave what felt like a suffocating hole. They all climbed out again.

"Remember- as soon as they're completely out of it- go!"

Violet punched a talon in the face while Lee flipped the other one over.

"Okay… they'll be sleeping for awhile now," Ruby said.

"Then let's get out of here,"

CCCCCC

"Okay, if nothing else before sucked- then this sucks."

Feebie stood, holding the Meteora in her hand, and watched some of the talons fly overhead.

"They know," Marina said. "They have to know about the Meteora or else why would they be-"

Marina was cut off when suddenly a parade of people ran up to them. She recognized it as her squadron and the other people, probably Feebie's.

"You're okay!"

"What were you doing, we couldn't find you anywhere-"

"Did you see all the weird weather from earlier?"

"There they are!"

Marina spun around. A group of talons were coming.

"Look!" one yelled, "They do have the Meteora!"

"Oh crap," Feebie muttered, Meteora pulsating in her hand. She gripped the stone and suddenly there was a wave of energy, coming from either her or the rock, and when the light faded, the talons were unconscious.

"Feebie?" Samantha, the Phoenix's wing woman, asked.

"Is that… a new crystal?"

"Yeah…"

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"That… was… awesome," Rina said breathlessly, several hours later.

Weaverbird nodded.

They had left Jack behind, back at Terra Dragondrop. And they were shocked at their own success. The talons had _retreated._

And hopefully, it wasn't just because they had "gotten lucky".

The group was in flight to Terra Rex, the next on their save-the-Terras-from-Cyclonia plan.

"So… what do we do at Terra Rex? Same strategy?" Christi asked.

"You mean, with the fire extinguisher?"

"Yeah, that."

Rina thought for a moment, skimmer still gliding through space. "Well… sure. The talons are even scarcer on Terra Rex, so it should work."

Harrier stood in front of them.

"Are you saying my Terra is in need of _help?_" he asked, shocked.

"Well… we'll be liberating it from Cyclonia," Rina said honestly. This guy was blind.

"I don't need help. I still have dignity you know!"

"Aww, c'mon! YOU NEED HELP! YOU NEED A COUNESELOR!"

"I do not!"

"Yes you do!"

"Security!"

Rina spun around to find fifteen guards in white suits staring at her.

"Oh, crap," Christi muttered.

"Yah think?"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Wait… where did Shadow and Piper go?"

The question hung in the air for a moment. _Don't worry, Aerrow; your cousin and mission specialist are safe in Cyclonis' hands!_

"Uh…"

Fate trailed off. "They… are in…"

"Mind control," Emma finished bleakly.

Aerrow stared for a minute. He had seen this coming, especially with Piper, but this was a blow to him. If his squadron was becoming Cyclonia, then…

He wouldn't want to think about it right now.

"Dude," Finn cut in. "_Where-_"

"In the throne room," Fate continued, remembering the original question. "Look, I'm sorry, we-"

"We have an anti imperious," Aerrow said. "We might as well use it,"

CCCCCC

"Experiment?" Kurk asked. For a second, he didn't know what Cyclonis meant. But then he realized. The hundreds of human drones standing around him gave it away- mind control.

He shouldn't have been surprised by this point.

Kurk gave Cyclonis a cocky grin. "Yeah, I don't think so,"

Cyclonis knew he would refuse- that was Rock Heart strategy. But he didn't seem to get she could mind control him into mind control- if that made any sense. Did it?

"Go!"

She hadn't seen this coming.

You had to love that the Rock Hearts, a group of people so clearly known for sneakiness, could burst out of a room like an animal freed from a cage.

In short, it was annoying. They were too unpredictable.

She loaded imperious into her crystal staff and was ready to shoot, but they were already gone. Kurk grabbed Kai and Tigger and took off, Aladd and Rondana following. The controlled Sky Knights fell out of order, pushed to the floor, as they ran past. On the way out, Kurk grabbed a dynamite crystal.

CCCCCC

Dressing up as talons wouldn't help them now. They already stood out, and fitting into talon suits… didn't make them any less noticeable.

Take Tyrannis. He was a 20 foot, skunk hybrid. He didn't look like a talon.

Their best bet was to sneak out as best as possible, and, if seen, escape with a fight.

It was a strange plan, but it was foolproof.

The group walked silently against the walls of small corridors. Meanwhile, Ravess, wondering where the heck Snipe had put her Violin, spotted them.

There was no way Cyclonis had just let five prisoners escape.

She pulled out a bow and arrow. "You little scumbags-"

Another group of talons in a connecting corridor, having seen Ravess get out her weapons, peered into the first hallway and saw a group of escapees. The talons swarmed the area. There were fifty of them.

"Oh crap," Ruby muttered. Fifty additional talons were not part of the plan…

CCCCCC

Jen stared back at them. For a moment, Feebie didn't know what was going on- and why was Jen in a talon outfit? Was she in disguise- or was she actually a talon?

Where did she come from?

She spun around, having just noticed her. "_Jen?!_"

The other ten people or so stared. Who was this Jen and how did Feebie and Marina seem to know her?

"I need the Meteora," Jen gave no explanation to why she was here or the talon outfit.

"But didn't you say-" Marina started. Jen _had_ said they could keep it, so-

"You don't understand," Jen tried to reason with them. She also ignored the talons around her on the ground. "I didn't actually think you'd be able to handle it, I need it back."

"What is it, on a loan or something?" Feebie asked sarcastically.

"Actually… yes," Jen said.

This took them by surprise. "A loan? To who?"

"Cyclonis,"

Marina could almost feel the Cyclonian airship behind her.

CCCCCC

"You can't do this! I have legal rights- I think-"

Rina protested as hoards of talons tried to drag her, Weaverbird and Christi back into the palace. They'd already been brought back to Cyclonia after retard Harrier had turned them in. They hadn't even freed Terra Rex!

What was Harriers problem? His Terra was in serious danger, and he turns in the only people willing to help back to Cyclonia.

Nice.

"Come here," Ravess hustled them through darkened rooms. Rina could have sworn she saw a group of zombie Sky Knights in one of them- was this the mind control Cyclonis had been so proud to present?

This definitely wasn't like sunny, snobbish Terra Rex- it was worse.

"You really are a bunch of troublemakers," Ravess pulled them into another room. "Cyclonis wanted me to do something for you,"

The room was reflecting red light, from where no one could tell. A large machine whirred and buzzed in the corner. A bad sign.

"… What's that?" Christi asked cautiously.

Ravess smiled. "A lot of people need to be punished today,"

She pressed one of the buttons and the whirring grew louder…


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

The others nodded in agreement. They had an anti imperious; it would be a waste not to use it…

"Well, there's only enough crystal power to free 3 people," Fate estimated. "We'll have to use it wisely,"

They crept among the hall, staying close to the walls, as they approached the throne room. Piper, Shadow…

Aerrow peaked through the door. "Ready, aim…"

"Is that _Aladd?_" Finn asked.

"And free Aladd. That's three people," Aerrow said mildly. He checked the crystal, aimed, and fired…

CCCCCC

"Ignite!"

"Kurk, no!" Tigger yelled as he threw the dynamite crystal into the air and ran for the exit, followed by Kai and Rondana.

This may sound cruel, but going back into the flame for Aladd was suicidal. They knew Aladd; he'd be able to save himself. And right now, they were kind of mad at him for running away.

The four sped out the door and slammed it behind them when suddenly, it burst into flames.

"What kind of crystal did you use?!"

Kurk thought for a minute. "You know, that could have easily been an apocalypse crystal…"

"_WHAT?!_"

"Uh, guys? Run!"

CCCCCC

"You know, running away and blowing stuff up probably isn't a good plan," Tyrannis lamented.

"Yah think?"

They were in a prison cell _again._

"We seriously need a new plan,"

"Yah think?"

"Okay, will you stop saying that?"

"Yah-"

"_Lee!_"

Lee finally was quiet in his attempt to annoy everybody. What can we say, he was bored.

There was a burst of light and suddenly fire ignited the halls.

"What the-"

CCCCCC

"You're on a loan with that thing with _Cyclonis?_" Marina asked, shocked. Not that it didn't make sense- Cyclonis _did _have the Cabion, after all- but they had trusted Jen.

A little.

"You idiot!" Feebie said angrily as someone smacked Jen upside the head.

"I had to! You don't understand- I'm not _really _a talon- I just work for her-"

"That means you're a talon, stupid!"

Feebie, clearly, was furious. They were not giving the Meteora back to a person working to destroy this Terra.

Jen give her the evil eye and pulled out some knives from a pocket. "Fine. We can do this the hard way."

"Not quite," Marina grabbed the Meteora and held it up. They weren't going to kill Jen, of course. Just knock her out and get away- before it was too late...

There was yet another burst of that infamous light that always seems to appear in these kind of fanfictions...

CCCCCC

"This," Ravess said. "This is a… special machine,"

She paused, waiting for a reaction. None came. "What it means is, if I push the button, Terras will be destroyed. First up, Terra Polotiks,"

She clicked the button.

"No!" Rina shrieked. Weren't there people on that Terra-?

There was no noise, no movement. A second passed.

Terra Polotiks, wherever the heck it was, was probably gone.

"Next up," Ravess said, ignoring the looks of horror on their faces, "Terra Atmosia,"

But before she could do anything, the machine- and then the entire room- burst into flames.


	15. Chapter 15

Archer, tis perfectly fine if you let the one shot tie in with the story :D If/when you write it, can you link it or something in a review, I want to see it :D

**Chapter Fifteen**

"What the heck?!"

Just after Aerrow aimed, the room burst into flames. Was this some effect of the crystal?

Shadow was dazed. Was-

Oh shit. Fire.

She didn't realize she was herself again as she and Piper ducked out of the crash zone, only to find Aerrow, the rest of the Storm Hawks, Fate and Emma crouched near the door.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised.

"Saving your butt," Finn remarked.

They all gave each other a quizzical look before realizing they should be getting out of there. They darted out of the fire area only to find that there was fire _everywhere._

"What happened here, the apocalypse?!"

--Meanwhile--

"We should get out of here," Tigger said as she, Kurk, Rondana and Kai ran, looking for the exit.

"But we haven't found the Cabion!" Kai argued. Now, although dangerous, could be the perfect opportunity to find the crystal, mainly because Cyclonis would be disabled and they could use that against her if they were careful.

"We'll die if we-"

Suddenly, Rondana crashed into a wall. But, apparently, it wasn't a wall. The large piece of clearly unstable (or at least badly insuranced) wood wall toppled over to reveal a pulsating green crystal.

"Uh… guys?"

She pointed to the crystal.

"Holy crap," Kai muttered.

The others stared. But Kurk was suspicious. It could be… anything, really, from the Cabion to a stick of uranium…

_Uranium?_

"Guys," he said slowly. "Don't touch that,"

CCCCCC

"AHHH!"

At first, it would look as if they were doomed. Locked in a cage while Cyclonia burns meant _they _would probably be burned alive.

But they were lucky.

"Look!" Marknos pointed out. "The cage is combustible!"

The metal bars were melting. Cyclonia really did have a palace about to fall apart…

"He's kidding me," Ruby muttered.

The problem, then, was how to breathe while waiting for the bars to melt so they could be free and not dead. There was no easy solution for this. Their best bet was to press up against the wall and hope the bars were done fast.

And so they were.

They couldn't wait for the flame to completely disperse; that was suicide. And so they ran right through as if running through a flaming ring at some sort of twisted circus and as quickly as possible, got back in the hallway.

"And _now _to get the Meteora," Lee said. He couldn't believe their luck.

"To Terra Gerudo!"

CCCCCC

"Uh… guys?"

"I know,"

It was some time later. And everyone now knew that you can't stop an army with a crystal, even if it's the Meteora, and especially if that army is Cyclonia's.

Terra Gerudo had been taken over.

Marina was almost positive they were looking for her. After all, she used to be Cyclonis' babysitter, and she probably knew by now Marina wasn't rotting in some dungeon or following commands like a control zombie. And they probably knew about the Meteora as well. No wonder.

But there was no way Marina could leave her Terra like this. _That _would be heartless.

Although just letting Cyclonis capture her wasn't the best idea ever.

Feebie stood next to her, looking out the window as talons swarmed the Terra below.

"This sucks,"

"You think?"

CCCCCC

"What-?"

As if the fire hadn't been enough, the wall had just fallen over. Just like that, poof, no wall.

Behind the wall was a green crystal, another fallen wall, and Tigger, Aladd, Kurk, Rondana and Kai looking just as confused as they were.

Everyone ignored the fire for a minute.

Ravess was horrified. She recognized the green crystal as the Cabion- or so she thought. But didn't Cyclonis have it?

….did someone move it?

And if so, who?


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Parts of the palace were exploding and bursting into flame. This proved to be a huge problem. The Storm Hawks dashed from hall to hall, looking for an exit, only to be stopped as random bits of debris blew up in front of them, forcing them to turn around and start over. But they had to get out, or they'd be killed.

"Where is the freaking _exit_?!" Emma gasped, annoyed and fearful they wouldn't make it out in time.

"Look! A vent!"

The group looked up to see Fate pointing to a large vent above their heads.

"Oh thank the Atmos!" Finn said, and they climbed up.

The scene was no better, if not worse, on the roof.

The entire _Terra_- not just the palace- was in flames. The Storm Hawks stared in awe. The sky, which, at this time of day, should have been dark because of night, was lit up as if it were dawn. Fires lit the sky like lanterns and smoke created a haze threatening the area.

"Okay," Shadow finally said. "I officially hate and love the person who did this. I mean, they destroyed Cyclonia, basically, but at this rate the Cabion is as good as gone."

"Ditto," was the collective response.

"It doesn't matter. We're all doomed anyway," Stork said and sighed.

CCCCCC

"What? Why not?" Tigger asked Kurk suddenly. Kurk shook his head. The first rule of crystal study was to _never_, under any circumstances, touch or use a crystal without knowing just what it was.

Ravess grinned. Upon further investigation, she realized it wasn't the Cabion. It was glowing too strongly.

Wait… there was only one crystal that glowed _that_ much…

And it wasn't even a crystal. Some idiot had left uranium lying around.

Probably Snipe.

Idiot.

Christi walked up to the crystal, ignoring Kurk's warning, and held it up. "In your face, Ravess!"

Ravess smacked her and grabbed the crystal. Kurk ran for it, hoping it wouldn't explode, because if it did-

_CRASH!_

"Whoever did that, I am going to GET YOU!" Rina shrieked as the room filled with smoke.

CCCCCC

There was another blast and part of the palace a ways away from them had the roof blow off and a plume of smoke burst from the opening. The Storm Hawks, Fate and Emma felt the roof shake.

"Oh. They're kidding me."

CCCCCC

"DAMN FUEL GAUGE!" Lee yelled as a group of skimmers plummeted to the Atmos.

Talon skimmers never worked anyway. And with oil prices so high, they couldn't afford more then a few gallons per skimmer (who brings wads of cash on rescue missions?!). So now, they were falling over Terra Gerudo.

"Holy crap!" Feebie said, recognizing the talon skimmers but also knowing the people riding them couldn't be talons.

"Those can't be talons," Marina practically said Feebie's thoughts aloud, noticing the skunk hybrid fall from the sky.

"We should probably help them,"

"Good point,"

The two ran out of the building just as the skimmers hit the ground.

"Whoa, that was fun," Marknos said, stepping out of the rubble.

"Yeah, so much fun," Lee muttered sarcastically.

"I'm surprised we're still alive,"

"Me too,"

"Uh… no offense… but who are you people?" Feebie asked.

"I'm Ruby," a girl said and held her hand out shakily.

The skunk hybrid got up. "Tyrannis, and this is Lee, Violet and Marknos."

"Next time, remind me to bring at least 80 dollars so we can afford gas," Violet said, standing up.

Feebie and Marina exchanged a glance.

"Uh…" Violet looked up to the setting sun on the horizon, indicating night. "Can we stay for the night? We're kinda out of luck here…" she waved her hand around the destroyed skimmers.

"Uh… sure?"

Well, if anything, this was awkward.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"We should go back," Aerrow said suddenly.

"Are you _crazy?!_"

Shadow stared at him. Nothing was going to make her go back into that hellhole.

"There are still people being controlled. We can go back and save them now. Cyclonis probably can't control them with her crystal in these conditions," he said, waving his hand around the area, as if to emphasize the apparent change in plans.

"We're the Storm Hawks. We don't run away from things." He finished.

"But Fate and Emma aren't technically-" Junko started, but Emma cut him off.

"We're Storm Hawks… ish," she said.

"Aww… I think…" the group said in unison.

CCCCCC

There was the barking sound of a small dog.

"Toto!" Tigger cheered as Toto ran toward her.

"How did Toto survive the explosion?" Rondana asked, surprised.

Tigger glared at her, holding her puppy.

"Uh, guys? Don't you think we should get out of here before we _DIE!?_" Kai asked.

"Oh, right,"

"And I'll give that necklace to Tigger, and those boring books to Rondana-" Christi said, with a pen and paper, clearly writing her will.

"We're not gonna die! Now come on!" Weaverbird dragged Christi out of the mess, and the two groups split off.

And remember, kids, uranium is not a toy.

CCCCCC

"SATALITE TV! 500 CHANNELS!"

The guests all crowded around the TV, flipping from channel to channel in the building Marina and Feebie, and their squadrons, had decided to stay in for now. After all, staying where one usually lives would be like waiting for Cyclonis to get you. It was too obvious. And apparently the new building, despite crackling walls (age…) and squeaky floorboards, had great cable.

Actually, this building felt like a small motel, but except for them, it was deserted. Probably some Atmosian tourist company had made this and forgotten it years ago. Although Terra Gerudo was just a desert, and why it would be up for tourism was anyone's guess.

Marknos flipped through the channels. Images of a circus, some reality TV and war stats hit the screen.

"Wait!" Lee grabbed the remote and flipped back to the circus channel. "Is that _Babo_?!"

Sure enough, Babo, or Luke Eaglee, the who-can-talk-to-wolves boy, was on the circus show broadcasting from Terra Neon.

Feebie rolled her eyes.

"What is it you guys came for again?" Marina asked. "I assume you weren't looking for cable,"

"Oh, right," Lee said and put the huge bowl of popcorn down. "There are rumors in Cyclonia you have the Meteora crystal,"

"…uh…so?"

"So we need it," Violet explained. "Look, it's a long story, we're just gonna borrow it-"

"You're kidding me," Samantha, one of Feebie's squadron members, said. "The Meteora is too powerful to just _give it_ away-"

"Oh come on!" Tyrannis argued.

"Well it is!"

"We just need to _borrow _it!"

"Great approach, guys," Marknos muttered, eyes not leaving the TV. "This plan sucks,"

"It's too dangerous!"

"It's not that unstable-"

"Yes it is!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"They're kidding me," Marina said. Feebie sighed.

"Is not!"

"Is too!"


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen**

The group of 10 dashed through the halls. The fire was now subsiding, and except for the part of the palace that had just exploded, they should be relatively safe. Talons ran all around, but none of them paid any attention to the Storm Hawks. They were just panicking.

Everyone screeched to a halt right in front of the throne room. Cyclonis was shrieking at talons ("_I DON'T CARE!! I WANT MY DR. PEPPER NOW!_"…why she wanted soft drinks now was anyones guess) Who were darting around trying to keep Cyclonia in one piece, and the Sky Knights and squadrons hobbled around, some clearly already free and trying to shake their squads back to reality, others dazed and delusional. The walls had huge holes in them, and one had actually collapsed, giving way to the _gorgeous _Cyclonian industrial scenery. Everything either sported small flames or was singed.

"Griffey, Radarr, you know what to do."

They knew Cyclonis had an imperious crystal. Sure, their crystal was out of power, but Piper had a reverse crystal, which meant they could reverse the effects of imperious and turn it into another anti imperious, which Fate, not Piper, would activate this time. Griffey and Radarr just had to get it.

"Okay… go!"

Griffey took off, soaring above everyone's heads, and right past Cyclonis to where he presumed was the crystal stash. He was looking for a white colored crystal.

Meanwhile, Radarr lunged and attached himself to Cyclonis' head.

"_WHAT THE HELL-_"

Emma tried to stifle her laughter but couldn't. And pretty soon, the whole group was howling at Cyclonis' expense.

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Aladd had the worst headache.

He could vaguely remember some big flash of light and then almost walking off the Terra, dazed. He found himself to be in a completely destroyed hallway, the walls virtually gone, Wastelands in view on one side.

And then he thought he saw someone.

"Hello?" he started before suddenly, he was glomped by about 5 or 6 people.

"Who- what the heck-"

"You're alive!"

"You're okay!"

He looked up and saw Tigger, Kurk, Toto, Rondana, and Kai.

"Oh."

So they had been right. He had made it out of the explosion all right, just as they expected.

"Uh… guys?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you get off me?!"

The group stood up, except for Toto, who remained clinging to Aladds feet, happily. Tigger shifted awkwardly.

"So… what happened?" Aladd asked.

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The room was completely loaded. There were three netted hammocks hanging from the ceiling, a dozen sleeping bags on the floor, people in the hotel beds and one person leaning against the wall on a mattress. None of the seventeen people were willing to go into the other vermin filled rooms of the hotel. This created a problem for many, including Tyrannis, being twenty feet tall, was squished against the wall, but no one complained.

Violet was still awake. And she knew there was no way these girls were going to give up the Meteora willingly.

There had to be a way.

She turned over to face Ruby, in the adjacent sleeping bag. Ruby was still up.

They exchanged a glance.

"I have an idea," Ruby said finally.

Although none of the others knew it, the two girls used to be thieves on Terra Atmosia. They didn't want to do it again, but…

Violet nodded, realizing what the idea was, and started looking for the Meteora in the dark.

"Wake Marknos, Lee and Tyrannis when you find it," Ruby whispered. "Then we get out of here."

"No skimmers," Violet said. "Remember?"

Marina rolled over, in the other bed. The two girls flinched before realizing she was still asleep.

A clear-ish crystal with images of light clouds and a moon was visible on the nightstand. Violet grabbed it.

"We'll just grab a few talon skimmers. There are a lot of careless talons around here," Ruby said.

"Then let's go,"

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"I don't know but I been told-"

"Christi, for the last time-"

"Freeing Terras is as good as gold!"

"Alright, alright-"

Rina, back in her dragon form, and Weaverbird were flying away from Cyclonia, planning to work on freeing Terras again. That was the most they could do, for now.

Christi swerved on her stolen skimmer as a dark Terra came into view.

"I don't know but I been told-"

"Will you-"

"Cyclonis' Christmas present is gonna be coal!"

"Please stop singi-"

"I don't know but I b-"

"_CHRISTI!_"

Weaverbird and Rina were clearly annoyed. Christi turned red at attempts of entertaining herself.

"Sorry…"

--

Sorry, had to have them glomp Aladd :D


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen**

Griffey grabbed the imperious crystal and took off. Behind the door, the group was still snickering as Radarr dislodged himself from Cyclonis' head.

"Squawk!" Griffey cheered, holding the crystal in his beak.

"Good job," Shadow said happily and picked up the crystal, then handed it to Fate. Piper gave her the reverse crystal.

"Work your magic,"

"Uh… guys?" Emma asked, and peeked into the throne room.

"GUYS!?"

"Yeah?" Everyone looked over and peered into the room.

Apparently, Cyclonis had seen them. Her Sky Knight and talon minions were running toward the door. There were dozens of them.

"Fate?! Hurry!"

Fate organized the crystal, spun around and shot it at the advancing people.

"Did… it work?"

The hordes of people fell to the floor, dazed.

Including the talons.

"What, were they under the control too-?"

A figure appeared behind Cyclonis. "Of course,"

Fate could only recognize the figure as Allen.

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"They did _WHAT _to you?!"

Aladd tried to explain what had happened while he was under mind control. "Look, I'll say this again. After the explosion, some of the other Sky Knights went crazy. Cyclonis commanded us to restrain them. I think I gave Harrier a bloody nose. I can't really remember. But I'm fine now. Honestly, everything's-"

Kai sighed.

"Then what's going on down there?"

He pointed through a hole in the wall overlooking the throne room, where dozens of Sky Knights and talons were on the floor.

"I dunno, but I did not do that-"

"Uh huh. Sure."

"I'm serio-"

"Look, whether or not Aladd took out those people is anyone's guess. That's not the problem," Tigger said. "Did Cyclonis tell you anything while you were under her control?"

Aladd looked at her. "What do you mean?"

Rondana caught on. "As in, do you know anything from the inside? Military secrets maybe?"

"Actually…"

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"This. Is. Perfect." Marknos said.

"Yes it is," Ruby added. All five were back in Cyclonia with the Meteora. They silently inched through the halls, which were completely and utterly singed, burnt out, nonexistent, etc. The workings of an apocalypse crystal.

In short, Cyclonia was a wreck.

The group stopped in front of another door, and a group of people in front of it, who they recognized as the Storm Hawks, Fate and Emma. Fate held a crystal tightly in her hand. They were staring inside the throne room.

Except for Fate, who seemed angry or something, a chorus of "hi's", "squawk's", and "wassup's" emitted as the two groups greeted each other. Tyrannis stared into the room at the fallen Sky Knights.

"What did you _do_!?"

"Reverse imperious," Aerrow said simply.

"Hey, is that the Dark Ace?" Marknos asked, squinting into the dark throne room at the figure Fate was glaring at.

"I can't believe it. He's working with her, isn't he..." Fate said and trailed off.

"Well, of course Dark Ace is-"

"Allen. My brother Allen."

"Uh huh…" Marknos said, not entirely sure what she was talking about. "Well that's just great. Totally awesome. We have a little business to attend to," he started, toying with the Meteora.

"What's that?" Shadow asked, catching sight of the Meteora.

"Uh, nothing-"

She grabbed it. It slipped from her hand and flew through the air, landing on Griffey's head. He caught it in his beak.

Finn ran for the clearly unstable crystal and it flew into the air again.

There was a flash of light.

"That better not be another apocalypse crystal!"

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"Oh. My. God. It's _gone._"

Feebie was wide awake. Marina, however, was still asleep.

"IT'S FREAKING GONE!"

"That's because there's no cable this early in the morning…" Marina said drowsily. She leaned over and fell off the incredibly small bed onto Kaida.

"Hey!"

"Sorry…"

Feebie shook her awake.

"The Meteora is _gone!_"

Marina bolted upward. "WHAT!?"

"I searched everywhere!" Feebie said. It was true, the room was a wreck. "The other people are gone too!"

Marina stood up and realized what had happened. The others had stolen it. "They took it…"

"Took what…?" Kaida said groggily.

"But they could be at Cyclonia by now!" Feebie was saying.

Marina had a dilemma. She had no idea what the others were planning to do with the crystal. But she couldn't just let them take it.

Although she hated to admit it, she knew there was only one way.

She had to go to Cyclonia.

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There were weird sounds coming from Christi's skimmer. She smacked the fuel gauge repeatedly only to hear that same clunk-clunk sound.

"Uh… guys?"

The others looked at her.

"I think my skimmer is-"

She was cut off when suddenly her skimmer did a nose dive to the Atmos.

"AAAHH!"

As Terra Gorge came into view, she could see why. Her skimmer was being drained. They had flown above the Black Gorge Terra.

Weaverbird dove on after her and caught Christi. They tumbled and ended up about 20 feet from the edge of the crevasse that was the Black Gorge. And gratefully, as falling into the gorge meant certain doom. Christi's skimmer was about 40 feet away, smoking.

Rina landed near them. "Hey, at least you're still alive!"

Christi gave her a look.

"Hey, what's that?" Weaverbird asked. A series of mines- or drilling rigs, whatever they were called- across, on the other side of the crevasse, were running. But when the others looked, they disappeared, as if by invisibility crystal.

They exchanged a glance. Well, that was weird…

Weaverbird got up. "Did you see the Cyclonian insignia on that one?"

Suddenly, the mines reappeared, and they saw.

But how could Cyclonia be mining here…?


	20. Chapter 20

Okay, so I have a question to ask you all. Archer had an idea for a story he might be writing- like a Total Drama Island Storm Hawks OC thing (described more at the Archer topic at OC Forum, second on the list of Storm Hawks forums, you know...)... so, if you want your OCs to be in that, then just post it in review :D

And now, on with my twisted story...

**Chapter 20**

Allen wore black and red clothes and had similarly violet- black hair like Cyclonis did. He was in human form, although Fate knew he could become a multitude of other forms, Kalean, Raptor…

He took one look at the group as the light dimmed and prepared to shoot.

Nothing had happened with Cyclonis just yet. Ruby, Violet, Marknos, Lee and Tyrannis could only hope that the Meteora would take its effect on her soon and that the emotion they had set to be over amplified (criticism) would backfire at the Dark Ace, (Cyclonis would be upset at his poor leadership in the invasion or something, they were hoping) and he might even leave. Cyclonis wouldn't realize that Cyclonia needed him too. Then the resistance could take over and they'd take care of the invasion.

Or they could have made a mistake and the overamplifyed emotion was love, therefore the Master would fall in love with Ace and screw up their plans altogether. They were really hoping that didn't happen.

But they had no time to watch or wait. "Here, keep it-" Marknos said, indicating the Meteora in Finns hand (keeping it meant certain doom if anyone found them) and the group sped off as the Storm Hawks stared in surprise.

That was weird.

Emma blinked, and then noticed the Murk Raider and Raptors squadron starting to get up. (Why the Raptors were under Cyclonian control when they already worked for Cyclonis was beyond her…). "Uh, guys…?"

Fate shot a firebolt at Allen, wanting to get rid of the problem fast- but midway through the room it transformed into a spring of water and landed on some poor Sky Knights head.

Oh right. Allen could opposite her powers…

"…what?" Shadow asked Emma. "And who's that?" she asked Fate, suddenly confused.

"Allen. Evil brother." Fate said simply, not needing to talk right now.

"Talk about sibling rivalry…"

"Lunch!" one of the raptors said and Aerrow realized who they meant.

Why the heck did all their enemies have to appear at once?

"Everyone we should really _get out of here!_" he tried to explain as Finn and Piper began battling Allen from across the room with Fate as well.

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"ACTUALLY WHAT?!" Tigger asked.

Aladd stared at them.

"Hate to burst your bubble, but _actually I know nothing._ They tell their minions what to do, not why."

Kurk groaned, frustrated. Kai sighed when he caught sight of something.

"Guys? Any idea what's going on down there?"

The group looked through a large hole in the wall (among others), charred out on the edges, to the dark room, lit up in fires and crystals, below. The Sky Knights were waking, and there were about three people near the door and two near the throne battling from afar-

Suddenly Kai had an idea.

"That looks like a resistance, doesn't it?" he asked. The others nodded. An all out resistance, no disguises, nothing like that…

Joining the Storm Hawks was never good for the Rock Hearts, but in the case of fighting Cyclonia…

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"What the din happened here?!"

Marina stared as she and Feebie landed, the rest of their squadrons back at Terra Gerudo taking over until they got the Meteora back. She trusted them.

Terra Cyclonia, however, was a mess…

The edges of the Terra were literally crumbling. The ground was charred and blackened, the sky covered in smoke and small fires, red as if it were a sunset only they knew it was day.

Civilians and talons were one in the masses of screaming refugees. The palace, which normally lit up the area, was partially collapsed. The part of it that was still up was burnt out, cratered, glowing green (what…?) or on fire.

There was a huge crater in view at part of the palace that was collapsed.

"Well…" Feebie said, surprised. "Uh… something blew up?"

"I hope it's not radioactive," Marina said as she walked in. The throne room was easy to find- all the main hallways led to it.

"Well, if it is, maybe we'll get superpowers."

"Or we could die."

"…that too."

"What is this, visiting hour?" a shadowy figure asked, near a door. They had apparently found the throne room. Marina got out her weapons defensively, as did Feebie. The figure put their hands up.

"It's me, Aerrow. I come in peace." He said and laughed slightly.

A girl with a long black braid peaked out from behind him. "Who- Marina!" she said cheerily, recognizing the redhead.

"Alittle help?" Fate asked, annoyed, to say the least.

There was a blinding white light and Finn appeared. He was holding a clear-ish crystal in his hand…

"_Finn _needed the Meteora?"

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The three looked at the reappear and disappear mines. Suddenly there was a howling noise.

"Wait a minute… Terra Gorge is nowhere near Terra Cyclonia…" Weaverbird trailed off, realizing something.

"But Cyclonia _is_ near the Great Expanse…"

The three exchanged a look. The sky was a dark blue and clouds covered the area. Besides the Terra they were on, nothing was visible.

Christi looked at them. "…what?"

"The Great Expanse. Oh shit, we're in the great expanse…" Rina said.

How they were on a Terra in the middle of the great expanse, though, they didn't know. The wind picked up.

"WE'RE DOOMED!"


	21. Chapter 21

Sorry if this chapter isn't that great... I actually can't remember what this was about, surprisingly. I'm working on chapter 24 now (yes, for some odd reason I try to keep three chapters ahead of the written story).

I think I have an amnesia problem.

**Chapter 21**

Cyclonis' eye twitched.

She stopped fighting and backed up from the people around her, unnoticed. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong…

The world faded in and out and swam around her. She felt sick as she backed off, and then took off in the opposite direction.

Poisen? …or something else?

A huge headache began to kick in as she had the strangest urge to fire one of her generals.

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No one noticed the teen leader of Cyclonia leave as Fate and Allen took turns trying to kill each other. Emma hit a talon upside the head, trying to avoid Raptors and Murk Raiders as the room erupted into chaos.

Suddenly, a white rock hit Allen in the head. He toppled over just as another figure landed nearby, kicking Allen's head in the process.

"Don't you just love useless bleach crystals?" Kai asked sarcastically, holding up a pack of white crystals. The rest of the Rock Hearts jumped down as well and landed near him.

"So who's this?" Kai asked, motioning to Allen.

Meanwhile, Marina and Feebie were just outside the door of the throne room with the rest of the Storm Hawks- Aerrow, Radarr, Finn, and Stork (who believed that going into the throne room meant certain doom and therefore stayed outside).

Finn said, "I didn't _need_ the Meteora-" he started and then explained what happened.

"Oh," Marina said. "Well can we have it back?" she asked as Feebie and Aerrow began talking. Siblings…

"Whatever,"

Finn tossed it into the air and Marina grabbed it just before it could emit more light and blow something up. She then peeked into the throne room.

"Mind if we help you out here?"

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Cyclonis wandered around the palace, looking for Dark Ace. He was supposed to oversee operations on Cyclonia.

Well look where Cyclonia was now… that bastard was going to get it.

"Master," Dark Ace suddenly appeared in a hallway and ran to her. "The Resistance is infiltrating-"

"You think I don't know that?" she hissed, annoyed at his apparent incompetence. "Shouldn't you have prevented this?!"

"Master, they were in disguise-"

"Nice excuse, _please_, I know you can crack disguises easier then that Sky Knights _head_-"

Before Cyclonis knew it she was in a screaming match with the Dark Ace.

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A group of people- specifically Marknos, Ruby, Violet, Lee, and Tyrannis- snickered as they watched Cyclonis' argument through the door.

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"That's _it!_"

Cyclonis smacked Dark Ace, who recoiled. She still had a splitting headache and couldn't stand the arrogant way he was acting…

"If you think you're so great, why don't you just _leave_." She hissed.

Dark Ace glared at her. "You'll regret this," he said dramatically (causing the hidden group to laugh) and stormed off.

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The group exchanged high fives.

"I can't believe that _worked_-"

"That was so easy!"

"Cyclonis is screwed now!"

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Shadow could have sworn she saw the Dark Ace storm through the hallway. She had heard the argument, as she wasn't as caught up in the talon fight as the others.

And she never knew Cyclonis had such _colorful _language.

She had the craziest idea.

If he had left Cyclonia, who's to say he can't be a daddy again?

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Shakily, the group stood up. Who knew there was a Terra in the Great Expanse?

Silence.

And the wind then howled even louder.

"Look who doesn't need a will now," Christi muttered. Weaverbird was thinking of something to do.

"Okay, according to the legends, there's going to be a siren that's going to use illusions to trick us…"

"Into what?" Christi asked.

"Something bad, of course." Rina replied. "We'll have to resist the siren, I guess… well, it can't be too hard…"

"Speak for yourself," Weaverbird said. "Only the Storm Hawks have ever made it out of the Expanse, and they had a working airship."

"We're screwed."

"Oh really?"

"…you two are so pessimistic."


	22. Chapter 22

Sorry if I don't get everyone en character, again, I'm trying... heh...

**Chapter 22**

Cyclonis held her head, in another room. Ravess was with her.

"Let me guess," Ravess said, trying to think of a reason for the sudden headache. There was no way Cyclonis was going back to that fight in the throne room. Her Master held a glass of water as Ravess spoke. "Hmm… boy problems?"

Cyclonis splashed the water in her face. "_WHAT?!_"

Ravess flinched. "Master, I just-"

"No," Cyclonis shook her head. She paused, than said: "It reminds me more of a crystal induced symptom… what are the most powerful crystals in this palace?"

"Besides the Cabion and uranium?"

Cyclonis splashed her again. "No duh!"

Sometimes her generals disappointed her.

Ravess backed up again. "Didn't you say those girls from Terra Gerudo had the Meteora?"

Cyclonis bolted up, causing her headache to intensify. For now she ignored this. Now that you mention that…

"Ravess, get those girls. Now."

"MOVE!"

Ravess scrambled off.

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Shadow could follow him… Dark Ace wouldn't be back in Cyclonia for awhile, minimum. Would that be enough time to persuade him?

She had no time to lose. He'd be out of Cyclonia soon…

"Piper. I'll be back-"

Piper looked at her. "What'd you-"

"-In a few days, weeks tops-"

"_Huh?!_ What do you mean, Shadow…?" Piper stopped fighting and turned to face the trainee. But she was already gone. There was a black blur- her braid- as Shadow disappeared through a door.

She would have followed and interrogated Shadow further, when she felt a shot burn at her arm and turned to find a talon several feet away, prepared to shoot.

"Bow to Cyclonia, fool!"

"No!"

Piper found herself in combat with the now-awake talon onslaught.

As did everyone else. Roused Sky Knights and their squadrons, the Storm Hawks, the Rock Hearts, Fate, Emma, Marina and Feebie fought.

"DIE, talon!" Aladd ignored weapons and socked a talon in the eye, then kicked him in the crotch, resulting in extreme pain for the unfortunate talon.

"Well, this is fun," Marina remarked, looking at the mess and chaos that was the throne room.

She ran in and accidently trampled a talon lying on the floor. "Oh, sorry," she said, not sorry at all.

"Fight, fight, fight-" Finn chanted before Piper smacked him.

"_YOU _fight, idiot!"

Finn grumbled and shot an arrow at a talon weapon, causing it to shut down.

"…really?" Feebie and Aerrow were still talking, 'catching up' on things.

"Ahem, fight." Stork said to them. "Before we all die,"

All of this was said in a monotone.

"Uh… right, Stork," Aerrow nodded and he and Feebie returned to talon slay- I mean, fighting. Not slaying at all.

There were at least twice as many talon drones then other people in the throne room. Although the room was huge, it was still pretty crowded, and the darkness put everyone at risk for trampling.

Emma scrambled out of the way of Raptors and Murk Raiders, both squadrons seeming out to get her. She wrestled a crystal staff out of a talons hand and shot at them. Spitz fell over.

"Whoo!"

Who knew shooting enemies down could be so much fun?

"So, you don't like Allen either?" Fate asked Kai. Both stood near Allen's unconscious form, and like the others, they were 'eliminating' the bothersome talons.

"Who's Allen?"

Fate gave him a look. "The guy you just knocked out?"

Kai nodded. "Oh, yeah…"

"How could you knock him out without knowing whose side he was on first?"

Kai shrugged. "He was fighting you guys. And face it, he looks Cyclonian,"

"Makes sense," Fate nodded.

"I know, right?"

Starling shot a talon nearby. "Hey," Kai waved.

Starling smiled. "Yeah, hey, only one syllable?"

Fate giggled. "You two make a good couple,"

Awkward…

The entire room was in chaos. This particular author was surprised nobody died yet, but she _is_ writing the story, after all.

There was a crash and everyone stopped.

The last stable door- the one Shadow had left in earlier, actually- fell over and a pink-haired violinist stood in the doorway.

Before anyone could respond, she spoke. "The two girls from Terra Gerudo who brought in the Meteora. I need them _now_. No games, just come. I won't hesitate to kill," she said. Ravess wouldn't really kill, but it was an ample threat.

The room silenced as Marina and Feebie thought of their options.

Nothing.

"Fine, we'll come," Marina walked forward, as did Feebie. She quickly thought of a backup plan.

The three left the room.

Surprising Ravess didn't even care about the fight, though…

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"So…" Ruby trailed off.

"So…"

"So…"

"So…"

"So…"

Ruby gave them a look.

"Sorry."

"Now that our big ultra plan is complete," Violet started, "What do we do now?"

"Wait?" Tyrannis suggested.

"Hope not to die?" Marknos asked.

"Do nothing?" Lee said.

"Actually," Violet said. "I have an idea,"

"Really? What?" Marknos asked.

"Is the Storm Machine still working?"

Silence.

"Because, you know, we _can _shut it down,"

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Except for the wind, it was quiet.

But then Christi spotted something.

"Look! An escape crystal!" the pale blue stone floated just in reach of the edge of the Terra. It would allow the user to teleport anywhere.

They could escape!

"Whoo!" Zarina got up and started for it, as did Christi. But Weaverbird was suspicious. Since when do rare escape crystals just appear out of thin air?

"Christi and Rina, _stop…_" Weaverbird warned.

Christi and Rina paused. A pale purple light shrouded them.

Above them floated the siren, playing her cruel game of illusion. She grinned, and pointed past them.

A skimmer was visible.

The two girls knew better this time. But the game was about to get much more difficult…


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

**Hello everyone! I just wanted to say, I have a new story up. Wow, it's been awhile. Anyway, it's called Fall of the Flightless and if you would like to read it, that'd be great!**

**Seriously.**

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A snap and a bang broke the silence.

People ducked. The source of the noise was another talon.

The fight, therefore, continued.

Harrier, his nose blue and bruised, held a stance against one of the Cyclonians. "Hey, shouldn't you be protecting your screwed Terra?" the talon asked, choking between breathes as Harrier locked him in a stranglehold.

Harrier dropped the poor guy. Why _was_ he here anyway? As soon as he had awoken, he should have gone back to Terra Rex… his civilians _needed_ him…

The talon scuttled away on the floor, massaging his neck, while Terra Rex's Sky Knight had his realization.

"Why _am _I still here?" Harrier wondered, and aloud.

"Are you… talking to yourself?" Emma, who was nearby, asked. She sounded concerned.

Harrier ignored her. He walked forward, to the center of the room, to prominence. He expected people to part his way. When they didn't, he pushed them.

"Sky Knights," he said, getting everyones attention as if giving a speech. Fate rolled her eyes. "Why are we here fighting mindless talons?"

A talon yelled, "Hey!"

Nobody paid attention to this talon, who happened to be the same one Aladd had brutally attacked earlier. Aladd whacked him over the head with a rock to shut him up.

"Continue,"

"Thank you," Even Harrier was surprised to see this kind of- mutual respect from Aladd. He continued, "We don't gain anything fighting like this. Our job is to protect our Terras… after all; they need us most right now,"

There was a murmur of agreement among the Sky Knights.

"I say we go back,"

Another wave of agreement, especially among the talons, who were tired of getting beat up all the time and wanted the Sky Knights to leave. They couldn't stop the massive storms, anyway, so it wasn't like they would lose control.

"No!" Aerrow argued. "If we take down Cyclonia from the root, we'll have a better chance of succeeding!"

But the Sky Knights were already dispersing around him. Harrier patted Aerrow on the back. "You'll understand in time, kiddo,"

The Storm Hawks, Fate and Emma found themselves alone against an army. Even the Rock Hearts had left, probably for Terra Aladates.

Aerrow really hated Harrier right then. He would have retaliated further, when something caught his attention.

"Where's Shadow?"

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Never fly in a cloud.

Shadow realized she should have listened to Piper when she said that so long ago. But this was the only way she could follow the Dark Ace without him knowing. He flew below her, ahead, and Shadow flew above and behind in a large (damp) cloud. She was drenched.

And, the Dark Ace was heading for Terra Atmosia. _What kind of a hiding place is that?_ Shadow wondered. Unless…

Later in the evening, Dark Ace parked his skimmer in the backyard of a house that looked about as much damaged as Terra Cyclonia. He stood up, paused, then walked in.

Shadow recognized the place instantly as her old home. But it had burned down. Why did he need to come here?

She couldn't follow him in. Not when they were both probably tired and Shadow soaking wet. Not tonight.

And so it was she found herself in an Atmosian back alley that night.

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"We can't possibly be going to Terra Aladates," Rondana said.

"Why not?" Aladd asked.

While Kurk, Aladd, Tigger, and even Toto were in the Sky Knight Squadron protecting the Terra, Kai and Rondana weren't. Technically, they could still go to Terra Aladates with them. Kai was pretty sure Starling had gone back to Terra Mesa. He could go there and split off from the Rock Hearts- for now- but he couldn't shake the feeling that Aerrow was right, that there was more to be done here.

"Guys. If Cyclonia is still in power, how does that help Aladates?" he asked, trying to get to them.

Pause.

"You see? It doesn't help. There's more we can do here before we go back."

"Like what?"

_"DR. PEPPER!_" Tigger spotted a vending machine down the hall.

"That's not exactly what I had in mind-"

The group already had sped off for the machine.

"Whatever."

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Sneaking, sneaking. Step. Quiet. Pause. Wait.

Continue.

"Where the heck is this machine?" Marknos asked, impatient. Ruby turned a door and a huge machine came into view.

"There you go,"

Marknos picked up a slightly mangled talon skimmer on the floor. He looked up and suddenly saw a light green glow.

"Damn. Somebody really destroyed this place."

"I hope it's not radioactive,"

Marknos shrugged and raised the staff up into the air, as if to beat the Storm Machine into oblivion, when Tyrannis stopped him. "That won't help,"

"He's right," Violet agreed. "That'll probably blow it up. You need to deactivate it."

"I was planning to do that," Marknos said. He dropped the staff. Lee gave him a look.

"You _wanted_ it to explode, didn't you?"

Marknos grinned.

Honestly, Lee wanted to see it blow up too. They weren't mindless violence freaks. But to see the Storm Machine finally be destroyed in such an entertaining matter was an option almost too good to refuse.

Ruby pressed a button on the machine and a screen came up. "What the…"

Tyrannis looked over her shoulder.

"It says Terra Polotiks has recently been destroyed,"

"Wait," Violet turned to them.

"Terra Polotiks doesn't _exist._"

CCCCCC

"Do you really like working for Cyclonis?"

The question was random and caught Ravess off guard. That was part of the plan. If they got her to turn against Cyclonis too, the empire would be screwed. The group wandered through dark hallways and open spaces that probably should have had ceilings, waiting for Ravess' answer.

"…why do you ask?"

"Just wondering," Feebie shrugged. All part of the plan.

"Well, now that you mention it…"

The two girls eyed Ravess expectantly, but she had trailed off and didn't say anything.

"Now that we mention it, what?" Marina asked.

"I don't think I do,"

"Why would you?" Feebie agreed. Ravess could quit…

But Ravess realized what they were trying to do. "You stop prying. I know what I'm doing around here… I follow my Masters."

She stopped at a door. Cyclonis was in view.

"Master," Ravess started. "I have the-"

Cyclonis groaned.

"Oh, now what?" Ravess snapped. Her boss was so irritable today…

"Did I say bring them to _me_?! I have enough on my mind as it is. Deal with them yourself," Cyclonis hissed.

Ravess sighed and walked off.

Cyclonis felt almost as if she was being controlled…

CCCCCC

Christi took a step forward. What was the siren planning to do? She couldn't kill them… right?

Right?

A thin bridge appeared. Terra Gale was visible in the distance.

No, no…

The clouds parted. Clear skies were visible.

Weaverbird had the urge to fly, but-

The siren. She was still behind them…

Was the skimmer that had appeared earlier real? Zarina thought. Because if it was…

Zarina walked forward, toward the bridge…

Then she stopped. Something was wrong. She looked down, and she could see _through_ the bridge.

The Wastelands were in view.

The siren was going to try and get them to walk off a Terra…


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

The room was silent.

Where _was_ their trainee?

Piper spoke. "She ran off. You're not going to believe this… but she went to see the Dark Ace."

Even in the dark, you could see Aerrows eyes boggle. "But why on Atmos would she-"

"Dark Ace left," Emma filled in. "Something happened, there was an argument, and now he's left…"

There was silence. Even the talons (most injured, as the healthy ones had left) had shut up.

"But we have no idea where she's gone," Aerrow summarized, slowly.

"That's about it," Emma said. In spite of this, she was at least relieved the Murk Raiders and the Raptors were gone.

"I have CONQUERED!"

Fate's voice broke the silence. Her foot was placed over her twin brothers' body in a triumphant position.

"Ghh… what happened…?" Allen asked groggily, waking up.

Fate kicked him again.

CCCCCC

The night stretched on. Shadow felt she was lost, that she didn't know this place. She tried to avoid people- mostly late night commuters- for fear they would recognize her as the Dark Ace's daughter.

Late night commuters going home to their _families…_

Happy, cheery, not- a- care- in- the- world- families.

She was only a few blocks away from Ace…

She could go back now…

No, not now.

She'd wait till morning.

CCCCCC

Tigger bolted to a stop when she saw just _who_ was at the vending machine.

Sara.

Oh, not again…

Aladd and Rondana, having been right behind Tigger, immediately slammed into her. The three toppled to the floor like dominos. Sara looked up from the machine, holding a Dr. Pepper.

"Aladdybear?"

Kai caught up with the group and snickered. "_Aladdybear…_?"

Tigger groaned and got up. She glared at Sara as Kurk got himself a drink from the vending machine.

The others stood up as well.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Tigger asked Sara as Kai watched Kurk chug a soft drink. There was no way he'd get involved in the soon-to-be-fight.

"Getting a drink," Sara said dully.

Tiggers eyes narrowed.

"I meant in Cyclonia,"

"Now, now, let's not fight…" Rondana said.

"They haven't started arguing yet," Aladd pointed out.

Sara shrugged. "Does it matter? Aladds _mine, _anyway,"

"Oh, so it's about Aladd!" Tigger argued, even though she knew it had to be about Aladd all along. She grabbed Aladds arm. "Well, he's mine!"

"MINE!"

Sara grabbed Aladds other arm and pulled him. Tigger pulled back.

"Ouch," Aladd said dryly as the girls fought over him.

CCCCCC

"Wait, how can Terra Polotiks not exist?" Marknos asked. "It says here specifically Terra Polotiks was destroyed…"

Ruby clicked through screens and went through several files, the screen representing (vaguely) a computer monitor. She clicked something and a file opened. There were several lines written in code.

Tyrannis peaked over her shoulder.

"What's that?"

Ruby didn't answer, but bit her lip and scrolled down the list. She looked surprised.

"What?"

Ruby stepped back. The four leaned in to look at the machine. Strings of code filled up several rows, followed by a line labeled "Terra Polotiks- destroyed" and "Terra Atmosia- target"

"Target?" Lee asked finally.

Marknos checked something.

"I think, if I'm not mistaken, something's hurling toward Terra Atmosia right now to kill the inhabitants,"

"…what?!"

CCCCCC

The three walked through the halls. It was evident Ravess had no idea where she was going, although she tried to hide this by making sharp turns and walking quickly.

"So, Cyclonis really is screwed, huh?" Marina asked Feebie, just loud enough for Ravess to hear. Ravess showed no sign she could hear them.

"Yep. I think Cyclonis is doomed,"

"I agree. Have you seen this place recently?" Marina asked, hoping to annoy Ravess. Ravess was already at the tipping point…

"Yep… I don't really feel sorry for her though…"

Ravess snapped. "I would take you both to be killed by Cyclonis _right now-_"

"…if she wasn't so hateful at the moment?"

"You two are _so annoying_-!"

"And what are you going to do about it?" Marina asked sweetly.

Ravess was about to pull out her bow and arrow… but Cyclonis gave her no orders to kill the two redheads. But Cyclonis hadn't said to dismiss them…

Did Ravess really need to work for Cyclonis?

She shook her head. Of course she did. But that didn't mean she could have a 'silent revenge'- by letting these girls go, they could hurt the empire further.

And Cyclonis really deserved it right now. It was a twisted logic… but Ravess felt daring.

"Go. Now."

CCCCCC

"We need to do _something! _Does the siren have a weakness?" Zarina asked.

Weaverbird thought.

"If you resist long enough, she should… disappear. Leave."

"Then resist! All of you resist!" Christi ordered.

The siren watched them. She lifted her hand and a small burst of light was emitted….

A tiny sun swirled above them. Clearly fake, and yet… tempting…

"Wait, what _is_ that supposed to be?" Weaverbird wondered aloud.

The bridge the siren had created earlier collapsed, the siren clearly annoyed. The mini-sun disappeared, who knows what the siren had intended to do with it. A red light filled the area, and talons appeared.

They knew that was a trap. Talons don't come way out here…

But then why was the buzzing sound of skimmers so real?

Christi threw a rock at one of the talons. It hit an engine and a crack was heard.

"Wait… those _aren't _fake talons?!" Zarina gasped, as the skimmer fell to earth.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Aerrow sighed. Sometimes he was sure his cousin was suicidal.

But there was absolutely no way they could find Shadow now… who knows where she had gotten off to…

"You know," Emma pointed out, "If we can just get the Cabion, we could ultimately finish Cyclonia,"

Finn nodded, the conversation apparently changing. Piper stood, getting up from her sitting position against the wall.

"That would work."

Fate kicked Allen again and then walked over to them. "But doesn't Cyclonis have it? How will we get it?"

Aerrow thought for a minute and then a brilliant idea came to him.

"Does anyone have talon uniforms?"

"Oh no! You're not going Rock Hearts on us, are you?!" Finn gasped.

CCCCCC

Shadow stood, right behind the wall at her old house. Yes, she had travelled.

Dad was in there.

There were clinking noises as she heard him move debris. Why on Atmos _was _he staying here, in this burnt out place?

She peered inside through a large, broken window. Broken was putting it lightly, there was no more glass in there except for a few shards on the end which looked partially melted. The window frame stretched above the back wall of the house, now short and the only wall still (partially) standing. It looked strange, to say the least.

Ace was still inside when he noticed a black braid zip into the view of the window and them out. He realized who it was.

Shadow realized the Dark Ace had seen her and jumped out of view, back to the edge of the wall next to the window, hoping it wasn't too-

No, never mind. It was, she realized as she heard footsteps…

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"_MINE!"_

"_MINE!"_

"_MINE!"_

"_MINE!"_

"_**MINE!"**_

"_**MINE!"**_

"I'M DYING!" Aladd screamed and jerked free of both of them, his arms now incredibly sore. The two girls gave each other the death glare.

"Guys?"

"MINE!"

"MINE!"

"AHEM!" Kai yelled above all of them. "I think we have a little problem!"

He pointed and fifteen talons were spotted nearby, watching them. They had probably heard the commotion and wanted to see what was going on.

Tigger and Sara noticed this and gasped.

Aladd sighed. He should have seen this coming.

"Come with us," one talon said firmly.

CCCCCC

"…what?!"

Did this mean Terra Atmosia was doomed?! Because if so, what a day.

Marknos nodded. "I've seen this stuff before. This thing controls a lot of weapons, and if Atmosia's a target-"

"Wait," Lee said. "Define 'weapons'… do you mean crystals, or-"

Marknos shrugged. Ruby went back to the screen and scrolled around some more, then found a page labeled 'weapons'. She scanned through it.

"Uh, yeah. Crystals."

Everyone looked over her shoulder and groaned. The page mentioned apocalypse crystals being activated and shot out of rockets toward target Terras.

Cyclonians really _were_ creative with their weapons of war.

CCCCCC

Marina and Feebie couldn't believe their luck. Now Ravess was doomed as well.

"Ha!"

The two sped off in fits of laughter at Ravess, who only stood in the hallway behind them, a small smile on her face. But it was a wicked smile.

The two returned to the throne room to continue assist in the fight when they saw everyone was gone and the Storm Hawks, Fate and Emma were donning talon suits. Feebie gave her brother a look.

"Did I… miss something?"

Marina looked around. "I think everyone retreated… that was fast…"

Aerrow looked up, dressed as a talon. "You're back! What did Cyclonis do? Are you okay?"

"_Actually…_"

CCCCCC

The talons were being lured to the siren. Rina, Christi and Weaverbird couldn't believe their luck.

Images of a Condor filled the sky. The talons began shooting at the illusion. One idiot accident shot down another talon, and a skimmer plummeted from the sky. Christi ran for it and touched it.

"It _is_ real!"

She got on and pulled a lever. The skimmer was still working… barely. The wings wouldn't go in, so landing later would be a problem, but for now it would do.

"She's distracted!" Zarina said, meaning the siren. "Let's get out of here!"

"Whoo, let's go!"

All I can say is the talons are doomed.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Deviousness. That was the only way to put it. Finn felt _devious._

They were going to steal the Cabion! Finn would actually _take_ it, and then years later, he'd be telling girls, "Yeah, I saved the free Atmos…"

Oh, they'd love him.

"Snap out of it, Finn," Marina said, realizing Finn was daydreaming as they walked through the halls.

"We'll split," Aerrow had said. "We'll distract Cyclonis and you'll go on behind and look for the crystal,"

"Let's just hope she isn't holding it when she comes in," Feebie had said, laughing. "Or it'll be really difficult to get,"

Marina, Feebie, Fate, Emma, Finn and Stork. Looking, where had Cyclonis gone?

There was a clinking noise and the group pressed themselves against the wall. Which, in talon disguises, was unnecessary, but it was instinct.

Stork shuddered. Why had he agreed to this?! He could have found the Condor again! And… and…

Fate leaned over and peered into the room they were standing near. She nodded and turned back to the others. "The Master is in there,"

"Good, let's go!" Finn said and strutted in. Already several other talons were in there. Including the red head they knew as Aerrow. The rest of the 'talons' walked in, most standing in out of view corners (i.e. Stork) and the others skulked around the room looking for-

It was in her staff.

The Cabion, I mean. It was in a wide slot in Cyclonis' crystal staff, which she was holding.

"Dang, you just predicted the future," Emma said to Feebie, surprised.

Well, this was unlucky.

Finn got out his bow and arrow, set it up and aimed. Apparently he, of all people, had a plan.

He shot right at the slot and the crystal popped out. He ran to grab it when Cyclonis, in retaliation, shot at him…

CCCCCC

Her heart was pounding. He could not be coming here, she thought… as his footsteps grew louder. This wasn't good. Actually, this was really, really bad.

He walked around the piece of wall, and then the Dark Ace saw a peculiar sight- a girl in a long black braid decked out in greens and browns.

Shadow thought, _I'm going to die._

Dark Ace's eyebrows raised, he was surprised.

The person he thought had hated him the most had come to _visit_ him…

CCCCCC

"This is your entire fault," Tigger said, blaming Sara for their apparent arrest.

"How is it my fault?!"

"You started the argument!"

Kai groaned. They were fighting _again._

"I did not! You just get jealous easily!"

"Well you _know_ Aladd likes me more!"

Aladd turned red and backed up against the wall. Rondana giggled, they were so cute together…

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

Aladd was clearly embarrassed. Kai started hitting his head against the wall.

Yes, they were in the little remains of the Cyclonian dungeons. "I'll give you two fifty dollars just to shut up!" the talon guarding their cell yelled.

CCCCCC

"So what do we do?!" Ruby asked. They could _not, _by all means, have Terra Atmosia be destroyed.

"It's kind of like a missile," Marknos said.

"A missile?!"

"We can probably disable it. If I have my facts right, those things are shot off, but the crystals are programmed for specific targets. We might be able to change the targets at the last minute,"

"To what?" Lee asked.

"The Wastelands," Tyrannis said, idea coming to him. "Then the apocalypse crystal can't cause any harm,"

"Tyrannis, you're a genius," Violet pointed out.

Tyrannis only grinned.

CCCCCC

Finn ducked her shot and jumped on the floor. He slid and reached out his hand- the Cabion was just in reach-

CCCCCC

"Well, that was fun," Rina said sarcastically, flying through the air in her dragon form again. "We almost fell off a Terra!"

"But we sacrificed about 100 talons to the siren!" Christi said cheerfully. Weaverbird laughed.

"Yeah, true. But our liberate-the-Terras plan didn't exactly… go as planned," Weaverbird pointed out.

"I have a plan!" Rina said. "Technically, now that Cyclonia's almost destroyed-"

"We're not going to Cyclonia."

"There are a bunch of civilians that need help…"

"Not. Cyclonia."

"…so we could rescue them… or something, and be good people for rescuing them… or something," Rina finished.

Weaverbird sighed. She hated Cyclonia, and she knew Rina did too, but it was a good idea…


	27. Chapter 27

**I know what you're thinking by now.**

**"Man, this story just keeps going ON AND ON AND ON AND ON..."**

**Yes indeed it does! :D Uh, yeah... well, I'm setting it up more like an actual war, so there'll be multiple missions and such. Not much of a plot.**

**I should have said that sooner.**

**Yah, anyway, there are 35 chapters, so the mission is nearing a close.**

**Chapter 27**

His hand closed around the Cabion, and he felt a rush of great triumph. _HE, _The Finnster, had saved the free Atmos!

Lol, not quite…

Hoards of talons swarmed him. He felt something wrestle the Cabion out of his grasp.

"No!"

Marina, Feebie, Fate, Emma, and yes- _Stork_- attacked the talons. As such, another fight broke out. Blasts of light, screaming from the talons, and part of the wall lit on fire due to Fate's fire blast having been set off in retaliation.

But the crystal was already back in Cyclonis' hands. Damn talons. This wasn't working.

And another, white colored crystal was with Cyclonis. Aerrow recognized it as the imperious.

But hadn't _they_ stolen the imperious?

Was there a traitor among them?

CCCCCC

Show no weakness.

Never cry, don't show affection in pubic, and _never_ show weakness. Shadow remembered these. She dared herself to stand up.

No exchange. Nothing. This was the most awkward moment _ever_.

Who knew one could be awkward around their own father? Well, some people. Luke Bingles, for one. But not like _this_. This kind of awkward, where you want to say something, but if you do you're afraid dad will kill you.

"Dad…" Shadow trailed off, trying to break the silence.

"Why did you come here?"

It wasn't a question, but a demand. Ace's expression didn't change. He just looked… neutral.

"Our… old house," Shadow finished, unable to explain why exactly she _had_ come here. Was it that hope that things would change? Because deep down, she felt that was impossible.

"Eh! It's the Dark Ace and 'is daughter!"

Shadow and the Dark Ace spun around to find a group of Atmosian civilians hiding in the bushes of the next backyard. Of course. They had seen them…

"Get 'em!"

Oh joy…

CCCCCC

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"_SHUT UP!_"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

The talon screamed, aggravated, and walked off.

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"_GUYS! THE TALON'S GONE!"_

Kai stopped hitting his head against the wall and looked up. Aladd was right, the talon _had_ left. Breaking out would be a lot easier now without someone to call security.

The cell bars were probably so weak one could kick them and they would fall apart. After all, this dungeon had been the victim of an apocalypse crystal.

"Did you do that on purpose?" Rondana asked Tigger and Sara as Kai kicked the bars, which crumbled. Weak cell bars. "As in, start that argument to annoy the talon so he would leave?"

"Uh… yeah, sure!" Tigger said, covering up for the argument. "I think in advance,"

"No, _I _think in advance!" Sara protested.

"I do!"

"I do!"

"NOT AGAIN!"

CCCCCC

Ruby opened another window. This one was labeled 'Reprogram destination of apocalypse missile,'

There was nothing in the file except for a type-in box and a button. She typed in 'Wastelands' and clicked accept.

A pop up appeared that read 'Are you sure you want to reprogram destination? This action cannot be reversed,'

Ruby clicked yes. There was a beeping sound from another file as the clock ticked down to when Atmosia would be destroyed.

Another pop up. 'Are you absolutely certain you want to do this?'

Marknos groaned. The computer was testing them today…

Ruby clicked yes, again, and yet _another_ window came up. She sighed and read aloud.

"Are you sure you want to reprogram destination? This may have lethal consequences for your new location,"

She clicked again, and more windows came up.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT COMPUTER?!" Lee yelled, annoyed.

"You really, really want to do this. You're absolutely sure. Click yes if that applies,"

Ruby clicked yes and another window came up.

"YES WE'RE SURE!" Tyrannis yelled, leaned over, and pressed the button. Another window came up.

"I hate computers," Marknos muttered.

CCCCCC

"Where did you get that?" Emma asked, surprised. She backed up slightly. She was not one for mind control.

"You really think they don't mass produce these?" Cyclonis asked, and grinned. She held it up. Aerrow grabbed his.

"We have one too!"

Her eyes narrowed as she recognized the red hair under his talon disguise. _More Storm Hawks…_

Suspense.

"Okay, SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!" Feebie yelled. They had to win this. Or else the world was doomed.

Fate ducked and dove under a crate. She had an idea.

Both Cyclonis and Aerrow held their crystals in the air. There were two flashes of white light….

Oh, more suspense.

CCCCCC

"Cyclonia looks _lovely _today. Just, _beautiful. _Like it hasn't been completely destroyed by an apocalypse crystal," Rina was saying sarcastically as they flew over the damned Terra.

"Yeah. Fabulous," Weaverbird muttered.

Christi, bored yet again, was singing. "Oh, Jingle bells, Cyclonis smells, Storkle laid an egg, Dark Ace is gone and here's this song for more good news to_day-_"

Rina and Weaverbird sighed. That got annoying.

"Look, it's _still _burning," Weaverbird said as they flew overhead. She pointed to a section of the palace that was now on fire. Suddenly all of it was illuminated in white light.

"Well, that was weird,"

"Think we should check it out?"


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

The lights faded.

Maybe they had been expecting the crystals to shatter, or something to explode, or even one of them dead. None of that happened. The result of their double imperious was far more frightening.

Cyclonis and Aerrow both still had their arms in the air, perfectly still, clear crystals in their hands. Both stood eerily silent, eyes open, as if frozen in time.

This was not part of Fates plan.

For a moment Piper was terrified Aerrow had somehow died.

Everyone stared, even random talons.

Fate broke the silence.

"_WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!_" You could tell she was worried.

Everyone jumped, surprised. That is, everyone but Aerrow and Cyclonis.

Marina was thinking. If imperious was a mind control crystal, and if both imperious were working when they tried to mind control each other-

Cyclonis and Aerrow were controlling _each other. _But that meant that if both were being controlled, they couldn't control the other. But somehow both were still controlled.

Marina was suddenly confused by this realization.

But she _did_ know that this was very, very bad.

CCCCCC

"We should run now," Shadow pointed out.

"Skimmers,"

The two ran for their skimmers, followed by an angry mob that trampled everything in it's path. Leaves, bushes, burnt-out crumblies of the house, virtually all of it was flattened.

"They're getting away!" someone yelled.

An angry person threw a cigarette lighter at Ace's skimmer and it burst into flames.

"This really isn't my day," Ace muttered.

He took his energy blade and ran at the crowd, angry. While some scattered, another threw a rock at him. This was deflected by his weapon, but now Dark Ace looked furious.

And that was before he heard Shadow's engine starting.

Shadow revved up her skimmer, ready to get the heck out of there. She could leave Ace to the civilians to handle. Maybe he deserved it…

"Hey! Wait!" Ace demanded.

He was calling to her to _wait_ for him?

HAS THE ATMOS GONE INSANE?!

CCCCCC

Aladd and Sara were holding hands, walking in the hallway behind the rest of the Rock Hearts. Tigger's eye twitched.

Every footstep echoed. Although it sounded like Aladd and Sara were slinking or skating across the halls.

Tigger looked behind and saw they were stopping about every five seconds.

Yes, Aladd and Sara were frenching.

Tigger's eye twitched again. She wished they had left Sara behind in that cell. Or better, dumped in the Wastelands.

Rondana looked at her.

"Yep, she's jealous," she reported to Kai and Kurk. Tigger turned to them. "I am _not _jealous,"

"Mmm…. Mmm…" Aladd was _still_ kissing Sara.

Tiger Lilys eyes narrowed. Kai and Kurk stifled laughter.

Sara had to be… _eliminated._

No, it's not as violent as you might think.

CCCCCC

Do you personally believe with all the goodness of your heart that you want to reprogram destination?

Marknos began hitting his head against the wall.

"Something is up with that computer," Lee muttered suspiciously.

You are sure this is the best choice? Positive? All set? Decided?

Everyone groaned. Ruby clicked yes _again. _She was now officially anti-technology.

There was a bleep from the machine and everyone jumped.

"Request pending, please hold." Violet looked over Ruby's shoulder and read aloud.

Everyone held their breath.

There was another beep.

"Request denied."

CCCCCC

Feebie and Finn waved their hands in front of Aerrow.

"Aerrow… wake up now… please…"

"We're doomed," Stork muttered, still hiding in the corner.

Everyone glared at him.

Piper groaned. She, like Marina, had suddenly realized just _what_ was going on.

"Guys…" she said slowly.

"What?" Emma asked.

"Stork's right. We _are_ doomed."

CCCCCC

"GUYS!"

Christi stopped singing. You'd think she would have done this to answer the question, but no. She pointed to something far below.

"What?" Rina looked up, momentarily distracted from the flash of light.

"A cotton candy stand!"

Sure enough, Christi was pointing to a candy stand far below, on the Terra. Weaverbird and Rina groaned.

Wait, was the stand… _glowing?_

Weaverbird stared. "Is it just me, or is that stand glowing green?"

The stand _was_ glowing green.

"We should check _that_ out…"

**I'm so evil to Aerrow.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

After all they had been through this mission- what with Piper hypnotizing herself, the mind control bathroom, Kurks apocalypse crystal, rousing the Sky Knights and then Harrier ruining their plans, this had not been expected.

But it was understandable, at least, after Piper explained it to them.

"Hmm…"

Fate wrestled the imperious out of Cyclonis' grip. Her hand felt like cold stone, which concerned her, to some extent.

She turned to Piper. "Maybe we can reroute this or something, so Cyclonis' imperious won't have control of Aerrow?"

She paused. That was worded badly.

"What I mean is, can we help Aerrow? Or is he stuck like this?"

Piper thought.

"I have an idea,"

CCCCCC

Shadow paused, dumbfounded. Her father had finally gone insane.

"Uh…"

Before she could think of what to do, Dark Ace was already on her skimmer.

_Bye, mob!_

They were already flying away.

Shadow could have killed him…

CCCCCC

_But what can you do to Sara? You can't physically hurt her, even if she is Cyclonian. _Tigger thought.

She could prove she was Cyclonian. Aladd wouldn't want to see Sara again after that… right?

"Hey, Sara," Tiger Lily taunted. Sara broke off from Aladd and turned to her.

"What?" She looked completely unfazed.

"Cyclonis is offering a _huge_ sum of money for any information about the Rock Hearts-"

Believe it or not, it was that easy. Sara loved money, and she loved ratting people out. But when she found Cyclonis, she'd probably be in for an- _unpleasant_ surprise, perhaps?

Sara ran off and Aladd was fuming.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY GIRLFRIEND?!"

"Oh, so she's your _girlfriend_ now!"

Rondana groaned. But Kai grinned.

"You just got rid of Sara!"

Kurk, Kai, Rondana and Tigger exchanged high fives and Tigger beamed.

Aladd was still furious.

CCCCCC

"Request denied,"

Lee started hitting his head on the wall again, Atmosia was probably doomed.

Marknos threw a rock at the machine.

"Self-destruct sequence activated,"

Marknos grinned. His plan had worked.

But nobody else knew what his plan was.

Tyrannis' eyes boggled. "Self destruct!?"

"We're doomed!" Lee said and sighed. He was already accepting their fate, apparently, and thus wasn't panicking.

"Actually, that's good,"

"Our doom is good?" Ruby asked, suspicious.

"No," Marknos shook his head. "This thing controls the apocalypse crystal. If it blows up then the mission is aborted,"

"So that's good,"

"Yeah, we just need to get out of here… fast."

And so they were escaping again. What a mission this was.

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It was almost an hour later. "When will this be done?" Emma asked impatiently, looking over Pipers shoulder. She was worried about Aerrow.

"I just need to reverse-imperious this, and since I don't have a reverse crystal I need to use a blocking one. Anyway, I'm almost done."

"That's what you said thirty minutes ago," Finn complained.

"What would you know, Finn, you can't count," Marina pointed out. She and Fate were going through a crystal collection in the back. Finn glared at her, but her back was turned and she didn't notice.

Piper looked up. "It's done," she reported and everyone jumped.

She held up her crystal, and several people held her breath.

There was another flash of light which blinded Stork.

There was a thud, and a certain Sky Knight groaned and fell to the ground.

"Aerrow!"

Piper ran to him and helped him up. Aerrow stood shakily, and everyone else sighed with relief. Feebie ran up and hugged Aerrow, and then Finn, and several other people.

It turned into a massive glomping session.

Piper was so relieved… if he had…

Had what?

She didn't answer this. _He's okay now, _she reassured herself.

Why was her heart still beating madly, then?

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"I'll have a strawberry cotton candy-" Christi started when Rina smacked her.

"We're not here for food."

"Why is your stand… uh… glowing?" Weaverbird asked, cutting to the chase.

But she found there was no one at the stand. She looked around. It was fully loaded with sweets and treats, although all were green glowing, but no one was running it. Rina looked up and noticed this as well.

"That's unusual."

"Dragons n' raptors, oh my-"

The three spun around to see a group of civilians in rags staring at them.

"Can you help? We have a problem." A woman asked. Weaverbird nodded.

"Uh, yeah, we can help… what do you need?"

"A healer,"


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Why was her heart still beating madly?

The group cleared around Aerrow. Fate took the imperious out of his hand to make sure Cyclonis was still controlled.

They were happy he was okay. Finn took the imperious and Cyclonis started to do the chicken dance.

While the others were amusing themselves at Cyclonis' expense, Piper turned to Aerrow. "You okay?" she asked softly.

He nodded. "What… just happened…?"

"It's a long story,"

"Oh,"

There was a moment of silence, and then it hit Piper. Could she actually like Aerrow… like that?

"Why the smile?" Aerrow grinned and noticed the soft smile on his navigators face, the girl lost in thought.

"You're okay,"

_This can't be just a friendship moment, _Aerrow thought as Cyclonis squawked nearby.

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"Hey, _she's _the one working for Cyclonis!" Tigger argued. Aladd could be so blind.

"So? You just made her leave!"

Rondana sighed. "Come on, Aladd, you know you like Tigger anyway."

Aladd turned red and gave her the death glare. Tigger smiled.

"Really?"

"I didn't say anything!"

"They're such a cute couple," Kai sighed, and Aladd turned redder.

Tigger giggled.

Aladd looked furious. He- he-

Well, he… kind of liked her…

_Aladd, be serious. You don't just like her, you love-_

Aladd said nothing.

But everyone was smiling and winking at him.

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The group scattered. "How much is that going to destroy-" Ruby asked, when suddenly there was an explosion.

Three rooms and part of a hallway of the Cyclonian Palace no longer existed.

"About that much," Marknos turned around and stopped.

"You know, somehow when I imagined this I thought we'd have more time to run," Tyrannis remarked. His fur was singed. Lees face was covered in ash.

Violet sighed. "Well, that was fun."

Everyone stared.

"I was being sarcastic,"

"Oh,"

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Part of the wall exploded near the Rock Hearts. They all ignored this.

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Cyclonis heard something explode. But she was powerless to do anything about it, seeing as the poor girl was doing the chicken dance to the amusement of many people.

Lark was mortified.

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Shadow ran. Her skimmer was behind her in the hall, but she didn't care. She was back in Cyclonia.

And she now knew her father was a very reckless driver.

She couldn't be associated with him anymore. She didn't need to know him. Why did she even go back?

She ran to a door and found a strange sight inside- Cyclonis doing the chicken dance.

Oh, what had they done now…?

"What did you do?!" She asked, as if she had only gone to the bathroom and not Terras away to see one of the most evil men in Atmos.

"She's doing the chicken dance!" Finn cheered when he saw who it was.

"Shadow- you're back-"

"How is she doing the chicken dance?" Shadow asked; eyes wide. This was crazy.

Finn held up the imperious crystal.

"Ah,"

"Hi, Shadow…" Aerrow trailed off. He would have said more- _Where did you go? Why? Wh- _but something stopped him.

Pipers eyes distracted him. Her beautiful, orange eyes…

Marina watched them, standing next to Emma and Fate.

"They're such a cute couple,"

The other two agreed, and Emma made a heart with her fingers.

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Was this how Cyclonia treated their civilians?

It wasn't like Cyclonia was really _able_ to treat anyone in its current position. But even in its prime, it was doubtful Cyclonia would do much more then enslave them.

Compared to that, maybe this was acceptable.

Barely.

The group of civilians had pitched up a large tent. Even though it wasn't striped- or in the shape of a circle- it reminded Rina of a circus. The tent was a dull beige- old and aging, clearly, but still in somewhat good shape, although it looked badly strained.

But it was what was below the tent that made one wonder.

They had managed to set up a few cots and messy tables, but the place seemed empty, as if devoid of life even as the people milled around. Weaverbird recognized the area as some sort of makeshift field hospital.

A woman turned to her.

"They're all sick, or injured," she said, waving her hand around the area as if to illustrate the situation. "My husband is one of them,"

She looked heartbroken, distraught. All three had a sudden surge of hatred against Cyclonia.

"You can fix this… right?"

"We can try…"


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

There is a specific moment, when, even in chaos, things seem to be perfect. Even when the entire world is collapsing or falling apart (although, technically in this case it wasn't even doing that) but there's a friendship bond one can create during that time, possibly while humiliating others. This was one of those moments.

That is, until Dark Ace strutted in.

He paused, in front of the doorway, staring. What was going on? What was happening to his Master?

The rest of the room paused as well, as they spotted him. Several people shifted uncomfortably, no one really knowing what to do. They could spontaneously attack him, but he was the _Dark Ace. _He'd probably eliminate them.

_Now_ was consequence time…

But Finn had a brilliant idea. In a flash, Cyclonis was attacking her own general.

Who knew Finn of all people was smart?

The room broke back into its regular cheering.

"Get him, Cyclonis!" Feebie much preferred this Cyclonis over the original.

Fate snickered.

Talk about entertainment…

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The Rock Hearts stopped.

There was cheering from another room. That in itself was cause for concern. Cheering on Terra Cyclonia was already highly unlikely. And it could be talon cheering…

The group exchanged a glance.

"Yeah, we're checking that out," Kurk decided.

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Tigger, Aladd, Rondana, Kai, Kurk, Ruby, Violet, Lee and Tyrannis' mouths fell open.

Dark Ace was being attacked by his leader. Inside the room were the Storm Hawks and multiple other people. Drawn to the cheering, the other nine people had come and were surprised… to say the least.

The entire thing was like one big, twisted party. One centered on Cyclonian torture, but whatever. Ace deserved it anyway.

"Wow," Kai muttered.

"Welcome to the party!" someone cheered. Actually, it was Rondana. She had already gone inside and was watching.

Aladd cheered. "Whoo! Hey, make Cyclonis do the chicken dance!"

He was the first one who had spotted Finn controlling the Master. The other Rock Hearts saw as well.

"Already covered, dude,"

Kai snickered. Kurk walked in and tried to blend in with the younger crowd.

Emma watched. "Wow, violent,"

"It's not really hurting Ace… is it?" Feebie watched as Cyclonis punched the Dark Ace.

"It probably is," Fate said, "But that's part of Finns twisted imagination. He _is_ the one controlling her,"

"Hey guys," Ruby and Violet walked over. "This place is a mess,"

"It's some sort of twisted party,"

"Of course,"

Tyrannis watched, interested, and Lee cheered Finn on. "Give Dark Fart a bloody nose!"

Actually, Marina was the only one not all that interested. Instead, she had found a crystal stash in the back. What had happened to the Cabion? Had it just disappeared?

She looked back in the box. It was in there. Wait, how did it get back there? Wasn't it on the floor?

The party was cut off.

The ceiling cracked. The room silenced, and several people looked up, wondering what was wrong. A beam snapped in half… clearly, someone very heavy was on the floor above-

Although, Shadow and several others were pretty surprised there was still a second floor of the palace, but still.

In a flash, a group of Cyclonians- actually, over two dozen talons and Snipe- fell through the ceiling. The room was now unbelievably cramped.

Party over…

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Where was Marknos?

He had a plan. He had drifted off from the original group, and found himself back in the room- or at least, what used to be of it- of the Storm Machine.

There was a way to destroy Cyclonia, indefinitely. Or at least, long enough for Atmos to rebuild.

He'd had this plan from the beginning. Ever since he landed here, it had been ready. He hadn't set it up; it was harnessed from what Cyclonia had already produced…

A bomb was implanted deep in the Terra. Why it was there, why Cyclonia had put it there, he didn't know. But he knew it was there, and he finally found a way to control it.

As soon as he activated it, all he'd have to do is get everyone off the Terra…

It was that simple. The Storm Machine controlled it. Surprisingly, the Storm Machine hadn't exploded _itself_, just destroyed everything around it.

That was how he knew that harnessing it meant harnessing the bomb…

Cyclonia was doomed.

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The man was sprawled out on one of the cots. He wore rags and was breathing heavily, the guy was clearly very ill. His wife stood at the foot of the bed, watching him. You could see love in her eyes, although she was also very worried for him…

Weaverbird reached into her pack. She knew there were several herbs to fix this. But the fastest-curing one was a very unknown, but miraculous healing fern thing called Genin, grown in Amazonia. It was supposed to be cut up and eaten like a salad…

Yes, it was very unusual.

She quickly set it up. Weaverbird knew they didn't have much time. Not just for the man. There was a… _eerie _sense Cyclonia would soon meet its end.

These people couldn't stay here.

Weaverbird picked up the bowl. "If he eats this-"

His wife grabbed it, and a spoon, and began spoon feeding the Genin to her husband.

She was eager to see him okay again. And he would be soon, this plant was a miracle worker.

Weaverbird closed her eyes. A couple. Somehow it reminded her of her mate, Silverglow…

"Look!"

Rina gasped and Weaverbird snapped out of her distraction. The man was looking up, in a daze, and his wife was smiling (albeit surprised)…

"He- he's okay!"

**I would have used a pre-existing herb, but my herbology sucks and I wrote this on vacation (go Maine!) so I just made something up… heh.**

**Gotta love Genin.**

**Okay, I'm probably paranoid, but I have a feeling people are getting sick of this story. I mean, only one person read the last chapter (or so I think) and unless I just updated at a bad time, I have this feeling everyone else is avoiding it. Well, not everyone else, but it's just... gone on and on... and is kinda plotless... you know what, I'll stop ranting now.**


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Party over…

The sudden talon onslaught caught everyone off guard. The room was small enough to make it extremely tight for fighting. The only type of battle they could possibly have in here was short range- hand to hand combat, with maybe two feet of breathing room. This in itself was bad, because most of their weapons were designed for long range fighting- staffs and blades that could shoot crystal energy over a long distance. This close, the easiest thing to do was to bonk a talon upside the head.

To compound the problem, the talons duly outnumbered them at least two to one. Not to mention Snipe was one of them.

Apparently Cyclonia still had a few tricks up their sleeve.

This felt foolish. Instead of fighting what was left of Cyclonia, Finn had been playing 'make the evil queen embarrass herself' Not that it wasn't totally worth it…

Rondana hit a talon over the head with her staff, _hard_. Said Cyclonian promptly fell to the floor.

"Hey! This really works!"

The talons realized that the majority of people in the room were armed with staffs. One gulped when he saw at least five of the people grinning evilly.

Kai sighed and hit another one over the head. But he was left wondering: why on Atmos did Cyclonia still have talons left? Hadn't all of them fled? (Or were killed…)

The question remained- how many more weapons, tricks or armies _did_ Cyclonis have left? Kai turned to look at Lark- or where she _had_ been-

The Cyclonian queen was gone, nowhere to be found. He spotted Finn, fighting off two talons, the imperious crystal _not_ in his hand.

Did Lark break out?

This was very bad…

He didn't have time to think further on the problem as a talon tried to punch him. Hit with the staff, said talon failed…

Fighting talons really gives one energy, Emma was thinking. Either that or she was sadistic for enjoying this so much. Really, she was working off tension.

Emma was surprised to see she was actually taking out more Cyclonians then anyone else in the room…

Fate looked up and noticed most of the talons were already down. Wow, they were quick…

And then she saw Snipe, having been out of view previously.

This sucked, to put it bluntly.

Aerrow backflipped and flew toward the wall, where he grabbed a piece of wood hanging out of it- who knew why debris was starting to come out of _walls_ now- and held on. With now ten feet clearance above everyone else, he had a better shot…

The Sky Knight jumped down, both energy blades outward. He took down five talons at once.

Aerrow then stood up to evaluate the scene. Most of the talons were already taken care of…

Wait, where was Dark Ace?

And Lark?

How did they escape-

There was a sudden crashing noise.

A familiar brunette teenager ran into the room. He panted, and Aerrow noticed he held a remote in his hand.

Marknos… remote… Aerrow pieced it together and already knew what had happened.

"Guys- bomb to destroy Cyclonia- we have to get out of here-"

"WHAT?!" Stork yelled. Aerrow wasn't surprised.

The talons- or at least the ones still conscious- looked furious.

"We need to get a skimmer and go, _now!_"

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Genin really was a miracle worker.

Surprisingly, everyone already was healed, or bandaged. Most of them were walking around.

Then Rina heard 'it'.

'It' sounded like a mini explosion, at first. Rina knew the others who had come to take the empire- or at least most of them- were into explosives. So at first, she ignored it.

Then there was another one. She felt the ground tremble.

"What. Was. That." Weaverbird said slowly. She didn't move.

Rina thought.

"Uh, Weaverbird?"

"Yeah?"

"These people need to get out of here… pronto," she said. "I have a feeling the others found uranium, dynamite or an apocalypse crystal."

Weaverbird shuddered when she said 'apocalypse crystal'.

"They'll need skimmers," Rina continued. She pointed to a skimmer lot across the street.

"Oh, that's convenient!" she said.

Weaverbirds eyes narrowed. "That's _way_ too convenient," she muttered. The civilians, having overheard their conversation, started to run for the lot.

"That was easy!" Christi said, mimicking the easy button again.

As one of the people ran, they smacked Christi upside the head.

And another said, "Thank you,"

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"Well thanks, Marknos, for almost totally destroying Cyclon-"

"Cyclonia isn't dead yet." Marina corrected.

The group was running, running from the building. How soon would the bomb go off? Did they have enough time?

Something was wrong about Cyclonia. Despite all the damage it had taken, a few buildings were already were being rebuilt, and a few talons milled around.

Did Cyclonis still think her empire was worth saving?

"The skimmers!" Tigger yelled, breaking Marina out of her thoughts. The skimmer lot had just enough left to have two to a vehicle. Hadn't there been more?

Ruby noticed people flying away on skimmers already in the air.

Oh. Escapees.

"Guys! Wait up!" Christi yelled, running, catching up behind them. Shadow rolled her eyes.

Rina and Weaverbird exchanged a glance. In all technicalities, they didn't even need skimmers.

Suddenly a shot was fired behind the whole group. It hit the skimmers, all of which exploded or burst into flames. They all spun around to see Lark standing behind them, holding a smoking crystal staff.

"If this Terra's coming down, you're going with it!"


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Somewhere in the depths of a desolate Terra, a small ant crawled around, looking for food to bring back to the colony. His dying home desperately needed food, but somehow, the Terra had suddenly run dry.

Food was the least of a certain sharpshooters problem right now. Finn of the Storm Hawks moved his leg and the ant was unknowingly put out of its misery.

"_If this Terra's coming down, you're going with it!"_

Her words almost seemed to reverberate in the air.

All but three were thinking, _Crap, we need to get out of here! Wait… we can't… we need to get rid of that bomb! _

One was thinking, _hey, has everyone forgotten I'M A DRAGON?! Whatever happened to people flying on dragons' backs? Well… that __**would **__be kind of awkward…_

Another was thinking, _hey, has everyone forgotten I CAN TURN INTO A DRAGON?! What happened to people flying on giant lizards' backs? Well… that __**would**__ be kind of awkward…_

Christi was thinking about cupcakes.

Cyclonis smiled. Her smile, of course, made everyone panic. If her Terra was about to be destroyed and she was _still_ happy, either she was insane, or she had a way to brutally kill them all. Whenever a Cyclonian smiled, it was bad news.

There were no exceptions to this rule.

"There is _one_ way to deactivate the bomb," she said. Everyone but Christi- who was still thinking about cupcakes- was suddenly filled with relief, but also a sense of foreboding. Whatever the solution was, it probably wasn't good.

"But it _will_ be a sacrifice on your part…"

Of course.

Out of her crystal staff, Cyclonis slid out a rock now radiating dark green light. It flashed and pulsated.

The Cabion.

Everyone looked at Finn, who was supposed to have taken the Cabion early on. Had he really left it at the palace for Lark to take?

_Mental note, DON'T actually give Finn responsibilities next time, _Aerrow thought. _If there is a next time. _He didn't want to blame Finn, but hadn't they mentioned he was supposed to get the Cabion? Or was that something else? Aerrow couldn't remember, and sighed. They were all distracted by the talons. It was nobody's fault.

"I'm sure you're all familiar with this crystal," Lark said. Feebie gritted her teeth, when suddenly she remembered she still had the Meteora in her pocket. They weren't done yet.

"Well, as your crystal specialist- _Piper- _might know, high energy crystals can destroy almost anything,"

She looked up at Marknos and the remote in his hand.

"If that remote is destroyed, then you'll all be safe," she pointed out. What was she getting at?

"But, of course, if it's a high energy bomb- and it's likely to be- then this crystal might be destroyed as well, with the force of it…"

Pipers eyes widened. She was the crystal specialist here, and she was probably the only one who realized that if the Cabion was destroyed, all of Atmos would die.

Marknos didn't know this, but he knew that Cyclonis' plans were always bad- after all, he _had_ dated Lark (the others didn't know this, fortunately for him)- and he didn't want to see any more doom then he had to.

"This?" he asked, holding the remote up. Cyclonis nodded, giving him a look that said clearly, _Give it to me._

Marknos had a better idea.

He threw it on the ground. Quickly, before anyone could retaliate, he crushed the remote with his foot. Nothing seemed to happen, except the remote crumbled.

_Was the bomb off __**now**__?_ He wondered. He was the one who had tracked it, and controlled the bomb, but the remote had been created by Cyclonians, and for all he knew, it could just activate the explosive, and Lark could be wrong about destroying it by breaking the remote. But nothing blew up.

"There you go. We're all safe." He said bluntly. _So much for my destroy Cyclonia plans…__**that**__ would have been fireworky…_

Nobody said anything, except Christi, who said, "Um… yay? That's good, right? Wait, we still have no way to get off the Terra!"

Weaverbird smacked her forehead.

Cyclonis sighed. There was no way around it, they didn't trust her. Not that it was surprising, but it messed up her plans slightly.

Not that she cared.

She raised the Cabion into the air. "Ah… well, now _you'll _be safe… but as for the rest of Atmos…"

Everyone stopped.

"This crystal can create worlds. And destroy them," she said. Hand still raised, Master Cyclonis activated the Cabion crystal. It started radiating light all over the Terra, illuminating an image of itself on buildings and streets. The ominous sight sent several talons scattering into the palace.

Piper had been right.

Feebie figured out what was going on. If the Cabion could create Atmos… it could destroy Atmos too!

But why would Lark want to destroy Atmos _now?_

Wait, wasn't the Meteora the Cabion's twin crystal? Could the Meteora offset-

Right before the Cabion was set off there was a suddenly white flash from the Meteora crystal.

When the light faded, Cyclonis was even more furious. This was the second time her plan had failed… her last attempt at total power, or total destruction, and it was offset by a bunch of rogues. This day was not working for her.

"Dude, we're _awesome_ at stopping Cyclonian plots…" Finn gloated, before he even understood what had happened.

"Anerin, you haven't changed a bit," Marina said. She walked up to Cyclonis, somewhat intimidating, as Marina was much taller then the girl. "But as much as you'd want to admit it to yourself, you haven't won."

Cyclonis narrowed her eyes. "Anerin is _not _my name-"

"It is to me."

Several people remembered Marina use to be Cyclonis' bodyguard.

"Now, I suggest you just give up already and turn yourself in to the Sky Knight Council. It's _over,_"

--

The group stood in front of a group of diplomats back at Terra Atmosia.

"So this is what you're telling me," one of the members of the Sky Knight Council said, standing at a podium and reviewing several documents. "That you all went to Cyclonia after hearing a bunch of rumors, and you all nearly destroyed the Terra and defeated Cyclonia all by yourself. And brought Master Cyclonis here." He paused and looked up, as a detained Lark stood in the back, glaring at all of them as she was held by multiple guards.

"That's a crazy story, kids."

"Oh yeah? How do you think we got Lark here in the first place?" Shadow walked forward and demanded, testing him. "It took all of us just to restrain her!"

Lark gave the death glare to all of them.

"Okay then, how did you all get out of Cyclonia? From what that Sky Knight-" at this, he pointed to Aerrow- "said, Cyclonis destroyed all the available skimmers. What did you do, _fly away_?" he asked sarcastically.

"Actually, that's exactly what we did," Weaverbird pointed out, out of view previously. Rina, standing next to her and back in her raptor form, nodded.

"Oh," he said meekly, intimidated by the dragon and her raptor friend.

"So, are we getting paid for this?" Finn asked, rubbing his hands together and grinning. Piper smacked him.

"No, you're not."

"Aww, man!" he moaned. Piper smacked him again.

"But…" the man trailed off. "Thanks,"

As the guards walked off with Cyclonis, the others stood in shock at being _thanked_ by the Sky Knight Council.

And as Lark walked out, she whispered, "I've still won,"

"If nearly destroying Atmos is winning,"

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**Holy crap, this story is finally DONE! It's been monthes! twitch**

**Sorry, I lost my sanity yesterday… it hasn't come back yet…**

**On another, totally uninsane (is that a word?) note, thank you all those random people who allowed me to use your OCs in this story, even though I probably destroyed their character, and if so I apologize, but still, thank you! :D**

**And, wow, I hit the 250 review mark! **

**So…**

****

Thank you reviewing people! (oh, this is turning out to be a long A/N…). Sorry I didn't really reply to most of them, because most of the time I would just say 'Hey! Thanks for reviewing!' and I don't want to flood all your inboxes with 'Hey! Thanks for reviewing!'s… you get the idea :D


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